


Bullet Proof

by cherry619



Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Hospitalization, Hurt Dean, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, more characters will be added as they show up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-06
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-01-30 09:24:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 23,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12650763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherry619/pseuds/cherry619
Summary: Dean was always indestructible...until one day he wasn't.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Man, I'm on a roll aren't I? This idea came to me from watching Dean's numerous promos declaring how nothing could hurt him because he's indestructible. So I figured, huh, what if one day he wasn't? And this was born.
> 
> This is set in current day Shield reunion. Roman is back from his illness in this and they are back as a unit both in wrestling, as well as a relationship. I already have chapter 2 written and I imagine this thing will be a doozy of emotions so hold tight! Any suggestions as we go along is appreciated. I hope you enjoy it!

_The match was supposed to be like any other match._

The live crowd was electric as Seth paced on the outside of the ring. Roman by his side, eagerly watching the in-ring action as Dean tangled with Sheamus.

Seth felt sweat drip into his eyes and he quickly wiped it away. He was almost like a tightly wound coil that was ready to explode at any minute. It’s why he loved wrestling so much. The adrenaline and energy and general _alive_ feeling he got was unlike any drug out there. That type of high that comes with the comradery of working with close friends and close partners as well as the fans chanting and screaming and 100% into the match was unmatched by anything else.

He knew that Roman and Dean felt the same way too. Seth turned to look at his other partner who was busy pacing like a caged animal himself.

The Samoan was laser focused on what was happening in the ring, his hand white knuckling the rope as his big, brown eyes stared a hole through Sheamus’ skull.

Seth directed his attention back to the ring shouting, “Come on Dean!” as he watched Sheamus heft Dean up for an Irish curse backbreaker. He winced as Dean’s ribcage met Sheamus’ knee. Dean groaned in obvious pain and flopped for a few before Sheamus tried to cover him for the 3 count. Seth had one leg underneath the rope, ready to break it up when Dean kicked out at two. Both he and Roman encouraged and applauded Dean on the outside to try to give him some strength to tag one of them in.

Being back together with his two partners was like a dream come true for Seth. It wasn’t difficult for them to quickly develop that _close_ relationship they originally had. He and Dean had already rekindled their affair and opening themselves up to Roman was just a natural progression. The type of love and trust they all shared together was something too deep to just throw away.

Seth thanked his lucky stars every night as he slept between his two lovers about what he was able to get back after thinking he had lost it all completely.

Licking his lips, Seth inhaled to try and get his head back in the zone. Sheamus was completely decimating Dean in ring. Dean had been inside for a while now, unable to make the tag since Cesaro or Miz seemed to always get in the way. Seth glanced briefly over to Roman and noted the steely look in his eyes. Roman was set to attack mode and Seth almost (almost) felt a little bit bad for the other team when Roman eventually got in ring.

Roman was like a protective papa bear that got very aggressive when you harmed what was his and Dean was his, was _theirs_ so it was only natural that both he and Roman would get protective. The same thing if it was himself in ring, or Roman. They all had very fierce protective streaks inside of them, built from years of having to handle things by themselves and not trusting anyone else. As well as years of having their personal trust between each other broken and damaged.

Seth shook his head of the thoughts. _Gotta stay focused._ He sternly remined himself. No need to dwell on the past.

_The match was supposed to be like any other match._

Seth kept reminding himself that as he kept shooting worried glances behind himself to where Dean was resting on the barricade and Roman was hovering over him. Seth had gotten the hot tag from Dean and went crazy on all three of the guys across from him. Doing flips, jumps and dives that would make a trained Olympic gymnast jealous.

When the adrenaline high wore off and Seth was now just wrestling inside the ring against the Miz he noticed that Dean and Roman weren’t on the ring apron at all. They were on the outside still.

“Aww what’s wrong? Is Sethie worried about his love buddies?” The Miz sneered, drawing Seth back to what was happening in ring.

Seth felt his heart beat quicker and his pulse pound against his temple. Seth growled low in his throat as he reared his leg back and kicked the Miz as hard as he could in the thigh.

Seth watched in satisfaction as the man gave a strangled yell and fell down clutching his thigh. Red haze enveloped Seth to the point where he saw nothing but the man squirming on the mat.

“You guys wanna see me beat up the Miz?” Seth taunted, shouting at the crowd. The crowd ate his words up and they all chorused for Miz to get some punishment. He noticed that Roman was now on the outside tangling with Sheamus and Cesaro. Some of his worry eased as he noticed Dean, albeit slowly, coming around the side to help.

With his concern not nagging at him, Seth wolfishly grinned as Miz began to realize that he was all alone in the ring.

Miz tried his best to run away but he ran into an angry Samoan in the process.

With one Superman punch and a ripcord knee to the Miz’s face as well as a dirty deeds to boot. Seth pinned him for the 3 count. Popping up off the Miz as the crowd exploded. Seth stayed in ring to celebrate with the two men he loved.

_The match was supposed to be like any other match._

“I said I’m fine.” Dean grumbled moodily swatting away Roman’s hands as they tried to assist him with taking off his swat gear.

“You don’t look fine. You could barely breathe when you got backstage and almost face planted. We need to get you looked at to make sure you’re okay. Stop being a difficult brat.” Roman said firmly, giving Dean “the look” as Seth would call it.

“He’s right.” Seth chimed in. Dean’s expression grew even darker. “You fucking scared me out there, okay? Can you at least get yourself looked at, for me?” Seth added softly, knowing Dean couldn’t resist his pleading face and soft request.

Dean groaned and flopped down on the bench dramatically. Seth didn’t miss the slight wince Dean gave as he did so either. “I hate you both.”

Seth just chuckled as Roman came over and ruffled his hair. “Since when did we have a four-year-old as our partner?” Roman asked him softly, smiling down at Dean’s overdramatic self.

“Since forever.” Seth reached up and gave Roman a soft kiss on the lips. The high from their earlier match has long since left making him feel a bit drained and vulnerable. That was always the downside to that type of high in ring, when it left it always made you feel completely stripped of all defenses.

At least, that was how it made Seth feel. In Dean’s case, it often left him wound up and on the defense at all times. It wasn’t until long after they had left the arena that Dean began to finally unwind from his high of the night.

“Come on, I’ll even by you some beer.” Roman promised, holding out his hand for Dean to grab onto as he hefted him up off the bench.

Seth stepped in behind him, worried at how unsteady the man seemed to be. Seth couldn’t really remember a specific point in the match where Dean could have gotten hurt and as the worry wart he was, it wouldn’t leave him alone.

“Are you trying to bribe me, Mr. Reigns?”

“Nah, if I wanted to bribe you I know other ways of doing that.” Roman’s hand went from gripping onto Dean’s back to slowly sliding down to his ass.

Seth watched the movement as he kept walking, he saw Dean stutter in his gait but quickly picked it back up again as Roman continued guiding them backstage.

“But that’s for later.” Roman shrugged as his hand resumed its guidance on Dean’s back. Dean groaned in response and seemed to deflate after that, allowing Roman and Seth to guide him to where they wanted him to go. Seth shook his head at the theatrics they were bound to be making to the other guys backstage.

It was going to be a hell of a long night


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean was always indestructible...until one day he wasn't.

Dean leaned his head against the shower wall as dizziness overtook him for a second. The water was nice and hot but he still felt cold standing in the shower shivering.

The water beating down on his back did very little to soothe the ache going on in his chest. He felt weak at the knees and unsteady. Countless nights of alcohol and bad decisions had given him the same feeling, so he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t a tad bit scared right now. That life was long past him and he hated the way his current feeling was reminding him of the past.

He knew that he only had about five more minutes before Seth or Roman barged into the shower to check on him. It was hard enough convincing them that he was okay to take a shower by himself to begin with. Dean wasn’t used to the shoe being on the other foot. He was always the one that was dealing with the other two’s various injuries and illnesses. Always the one that had to be strong emotionally when they sometimes fell apart. So, Dean wasn’t used to being the one that was the main focus and it was starting to freak him out a little bit.

After their visit to the trainer, which Dean hated, they said he bruised some ribs and would be fine after a week off healing, which Dean also hated.

Dean has had bruised ribs plenty of times before but the stabbing pain in his gut was unlike any bruised ribs he’s ever experienced.

Clenching his fist against the pain, Dean tried to breathe deeply in and out through his nose, before he was ready to get out of the shower.

“Hey! You okay in there?” Seth yelled from the other side of the door.

Dean grunted out an, “I’m fine” before he turned off the water and got a towel to wrap around himself.

Standing before the mirror, Dean took in his appearance. The bruise resting on his ribcage was beginning to grow darker and angry looking. It made him wince when he fingered it gently.

His hair was a wet, matted, tangled mess atop his head. His eyes bore deep circles underneath, belaying how exhausted and tired he was. Constant years of go, go, go seemed like they were finally taking a toll.

All in all he looked like absolute shit, _felt_ like absolute shit. However, he had to keep trucking along like he always did.

“Dean?” Roman asked this time, his voice soft yet firm. Basically, letting Dean know if he didn’t come out right now then Roman was going to break the door down. And given their history together that wasn’t just a threat.

Dean took a minute to compose himself before coming out. He breathed in deeply and groaned at the way that irritated his ribs. The pain was intense, sending sharp tendrils up his chest and down to his toes. He squeezed his eyes shut for a minute and focused on trying to ride out the pain, his hand found the counter blindly as he fought with himself to stay conscious.

_What the fuck was that?_ Dean questioned, a hint of panic going through his system.

“Dean! I’m coming in there in 5 seconds.” Seth said this time.

“Fuck me…” Dean whined. He didn’t need to deal with this shit tonight. Once his breathing returned to normal he took one more second to make sure the pain he was experiencing wasn’t showing on his face.

When Dean opened the door a billow of steam shot out, and without fail, it hit Seth directly in the face as he waited impatiently for Dean to get out of the shower. His big, brown eyes were leaking anxiety as they stared at Dean.

“I told you I was fine princess.” Dean mumbled, pushing past Seth so that he could lay on the bed. He face planted next to Roman’s form and hid a groan of pain when his ribs shifted at the movement.

“And I’m fucking Santa Claus. Stop being an ass Dean.” Seth griped back, the sound of his voice clearly expressing his agitation and worry.

Dean groaned some more, not ready to deal with Seth being bitchy and did his best to will himself to sleep. He listened to Seth bicker and moan for a few more minutes before he heard Roman’s deep voice rumble next to him. “The bruise isn’t looking too hot baby.” He chastised. “Let’s try and rub something on it before you go to sleep, yeah?”

Dean knew he was only trying to help but at that moment he wasn’t sure he’d be able to even croak out an answer.

“Dean?” Seth pressed this time. Dean could feel him leaning down next to the bed, his face close enough that his breath was ghosting across the shell of his ear and making him shiver.

“He’s tired babe, and cold by the looks of it. Go get me that blanket from inside of the closet and throw it over top of him. I guess we’ll deal with him in the morning.” Roman said with an air of finality. Just like old times, Seth did as Roman asked and went with his final say. Dean breathed a sigh of relief at being left alone for the night.

 The warm blanket was draped across his naked back, and he could feel as the wet towel was gently pulled from underneath him and boxers were being fitted onto his lower half. He was too exhausted to even grumble at the thought of being dressed like a four-year-old tonight.

Finally, Roman’s big hand settled in the back of his wet curls and began to massage his scalp. He began drifting off to sleep soundly but not before hearing Roman say, “He’s falling asleep really fast. Maybe there _is_ something wrong.”

 

* * *

 

Lightning cracked outside causing Roman to wake with a start. Rubbing his bleary eyes, Roman focused on the red numbers flashing near the TV telling him that the power had went out at one point. Groaning, Roman fumbled for his phone for the time.

The bright white light from his phone turning on had him cursing before he immediately switched the brightness down. When his eyes were able to see the screen, he groaned again at noticing the time of 3:43 am.

They all had to be up in about three hours to get ready to catch a flight. It took a while for he and Seth to get to sleep due to the nerves from earlier in the night.

Rubbing his face to try and wake himself, Roman turned over to check on his lovers. Seth was in the middle and was curled up in the fetal position against his back, his hair splayed in every direction and moving as Seth breathed in and out.

Roman smiled fondly at him and moved some of Seth’s hair out of his mouth. Seth snuffled in his sleep before quickly settling back down. Roman leaned up on his elbows to check on Dean.

His brows furrowed at noticing he was in the same position he had fallen asleep in hours before. Dean was a notorious mover when he slept. The blankets were always disheveled or pushed off, his limbs tangled with either he or Seth during the night and even on occasion Dean would roll off the bed due to his movement.

Roman normally wasn’t the worry wart of the bunch, and often than not he was quelling Seth’s constant concern by reminding him that Dean was a big boy and could take care of himself. Also considering that out of the three of them that Dean was the one with the least amount of injuries and time off, and the one that almost never got sick, Roman would rarely worry about Dean. Seth was more fragile in that regard than Dean. Now, given all they have went through over the years with Seth’s big injury, and he himself getting over a bad illness recently, Dean, unfortunately, was often the least of his concerns.

However, the younger man was so still in bed and Roman could barely see him breathing from this position. Panic began to settle in his gut enough to force him out of bed and hurry around to the other side.

“Dean?” Roman asked softly, pushing the younger man’s errant curls away from his face. The man’s skin was clammy to the touch, and now that Roman was closer he could see the sickly pallor of his skin. “Dean!” Roman said more forcefully, shaking his head.

Dean just flopped in his arms, dead to the world.

Panic mode was fully set in now.

“Seth!” Roman leaped up and began shaking Seth’s sleeping form.

“Whaaa….?” Seth grumbled, cursing at being awoken at such an early hour. “Stop shaking me.” Seth demanded again. The shaking didn’t stop until Seth finally sat up. “Fuck Roman, what do you want?”

“Call 911 Seth somethings wrong with Dean.”

Seth felt his heart freeze in his chest. Turning over in the bed with a speed that would make the flash jealous, Seth gripped Dean’s shoulders and quickly rolled him to his back. Like earlier, Dean’s body just flopped willingly.

Dark, black circles hung under his eyes contrasting with the pale color of his skin. The light from the moon was illuminating him enough that Seth could see how dark that bruise had gotten.

“Dean!” Seth screamed, shaking his unresponsive body. “Fuck…is he even breathing?!” Seth turned, panic stricken eyes to Roman’s wanting the older man to take charge because Seth was damn near gone.

“Yeah,” Roman replied shakily, feeling Dean’s breath puff against his hand. “Something’s not right Seth, we need to call 911.”

Seth felt himself losing control and he was _not_ okay with having no control. “Dean!” Seth pleaded again, shaking him just wanting him to open his eyes.

“Seth…” Roman said softly.

Seth wasn’t hearing anything right now though. His sole focus was on how cool Dean’s skin felt, and how he just rolled back and forth from Seth shaking him. “Dean!” Seth pleaded again, tears misting in his eyes. _I just got him back…_

“Seth, come on. We have to call an ambulance.” Roman tried again, forcefully removing Seth from the bed.

Roman fell back on his ass when he jerked Seth away from Dean’s body. Seth was in hysterics at this point, and realizing that Seth couldn’t make any phone calls. Roman blindly reached for his phone and hurriedly dialed 911.

“It’ll be okay.” Roman whispered to Seth kissing his head gently. “He’ll be alright.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what do you guys think? Chapter 3 is already in the works. Much more theatrics and emotions to come! I'm really liking where this one is heading, I hope you are too! I promise a happy ending will be in the future.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean was always indestructible...until one day he wasn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this has been sitting in my computer for a bit so I figured I'd go ahead and post it and not torture you guys any longer ;)
> 
> Just for the record I am not a medical doctor, so everything you'll see in this story involving medical information is researched and may be a tad inaccurate since I'm trying to keep it real but also make it fit with the story. Hope you like it!

“What do you mean the two of us can’t ride in the ambulance?” Seth shrieked causing a scene outside of the small motel in Indiana.

Rain was pouring down hard outside, resounding off the flimsy tin roof and reverberating off the ambulance. A group of gawkers came out to try and see what was going on in this dead part of town, cameras and phones were out despite the heavy rain.

Seth paid them no mind however. If it wasn’t for Roman’s strong hand resting on his shoulder and supporting his back, Seth would have just melted into the ground along with the rain. He was very close to having a nervous breakdown. He had already spent the agonizing 5 minutes it took for the ambulance to get there, muttering reassurances and words of comfort to Dean’s silent form.

Roman had to forcefully remove him from Dean when the paramedics got there because Seth didn’t want to let go.

“Sir, we only have room for one occupant and we need to head to the hospital _now._ Those are your options, I’m sorry.” The paramedic said, not unkindly but firm enough that Seth knew that he wasn’t going to be reasoned with.

It didn’t stop him from trying. “Listen here,” Seth jabbed a finger in the man’s face before Roman pulled his arm back and shushed him gently. He put himself in between them and spoke so softly that Seth couldn’t hear what they were saying.

His eyes wandered from Roman to where he could see Dean on the board already in the ambulance. Two other paramedics were busy fixing him with monitors and other equipment. The sight made him physically ill to his stomach.

He swallowed down the bile that wanted to escape and focused his attention back on Roman’s muscular back. Now that Seth was _actually_ seeing things, he noticed that Roman was shirtless.

“Come on, we’ll follow in the car.” Roman said gruffly, pulling him along, _away_ from Dean.

“Bu-but…we can’t leave him!” Seth demanded, trying to remain in place and dig his heels into the dirt but Roman was much stronger and he wasn’t budging on his grip of Seth’s wrist.

“No,” Seth howled, doing his best to escape out of Roman’s grip. Screw what scene he was making, or if people were taking pictures and going to post it on every magazine and internet tabloid they could find. He knew that he looked like a petulant child at the moment, but he just didn’t care. He was just so damn exhausted and worried that his brain wasn’t properly functioning.

“Seth look at me!” Roman demanded, grabbing his other wrist and pulling him closer. Seth stopped his fighting and looked at Roman, no, _really_ looked at Roman. Roman’s naturally dark brown eyes were wet and he’s pretty sure that wasn’t the rain. His face showed lines of obvious pain, his brows were furrowed, and his lips pinched. Seth didn’t take into consideration what Roman had to be going through. After all, they were all three in a relationship together and Roman never necessarily shared the same bond as he and Dean did but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t hurting too. Roman _loved_ Dean. Practically doted on the man when Seth was…away. Dean became practically part of Roman’s family for goodness sake, an honorary Uce. So of course, Roman was hurting too, but Roman was much better at managing and hiding his pain than Seth or Dean ever was. It’s why Roman was always looked at as the wise, protective figure between the three. He was oldest, and had a better grip on his emotions than the other two; so often when shit hit the fan and Dean and Seth were both freaking out, Roman was the one to calm them both down and deescalate the situation.

“We can’t help Dean if we’re worked up. We’ll follow along behind the ambulance and make the appropriate calls when we get to the hospital.” Seth shuttered in his grip but finally began to relax enough that he could concentrate on what was going on around him.

He took the time to stare at the crowd that had gathered outside, camera flashes went off as he surveyed the area. He’s sure that the sight of him and Roman together, huddled and broken as Dean was being transported away was sure to make some sort of headline later in the day. Just the thought of facing _anything_ of that magnitude at the moment was giving Seth a headache. He didn’t know if he could handle it all.

“We have to stay strong,” Roman leaned in and whispered, making sure he wasn’t directly facing the crowd he leaned in and gave Seth a soft kiss on his lips. He leaned his head against Seth’s and closed his eyes, Seth sighed at the contact and closed his eyes as well. After one moment to compose themselves they quickly grabbed their things and followed the ambulance to the hospital.

 

* * *

 

“Dude you don’t know who these guys are?” One of the paramedics stated in disbelief, as he hooked up his patient to a heart monitor. The steady beeping inside the ambulance gave all of the paramedics working a sigh of relief.

“Nope,” John, the senior paramedic of the bunch, stated. He smoothed down the tape of the IV in the man’s elbow crease and studied his face for a few moments. He didn’t look to be anything special, like a celebrity of sorts. He looked a little rough around the edges, but in obviously good shape considering how toned and muscular the man was.

“Jesus John, you need to get out more then.” Tim shook his head in bewilderment, watching the blood pressure gauge he had just hooked up. “BP reads 180/110.” Tim muttered aloud so that his team could hear him.

Donna, the only female of the team, quickly charted the information down. “That’s not very good.” John stated, worry lines creasing his forehead. “What the hell is going on?”

Tim shrugged. “Not sure yet, but this bruising along his ribcage may explain some things.”

Donna skirted her hands across the man’s ribcage, feeling for any broken bones but nothing jumped out at her. The most worrying aspect was the man didn’t move once during the ministrations. The bruising looked like it physically hurt to be touched but the man remained out like a light. Donna was in her mid 30’s, had two children and was often accused of having too much of a heart when it came to the job. So, despite herself, she began feeling sympathy well up inside of her at the man’s state, as well as the state of the two men currently following behind in the car.

“What’s the deal with this one Tim? And the other guys back there?” Donna asked quietly, fitting her hand inside the man’s lax one for comfort. No one ever called her out on the gesture, and Donna always thought that when patients were like this, so cold and lifeless, trapped in their unconsciousness, it gave them a small modicum of comfort. Or at least that’s what she told herself.

“Dean Ambrose. WWE superstar. Don’t you guys watch wrestling?”

Both Donna and John gave him blank stares. Tim just shook his head. “I know what we’re watching during our breaks now.” Tim mumbled under his breath.

“So he’s a wrestler.” Donna stated, hand going back to the bruising. “That would explain these then.”

“Blunt force trauma seems the most likely.” John said, writing the man’s job description down in their notes. “Fits with the symptoms. High blood pressure, lack of consciousness, bruising. The man also told me that when they woke up he was very clammy and cold to the touch.”

“Going into shock.” Tim said. “Blunt force trauma sounds _very_ likely.”

Donna studied the man’s face for a few seconds, noting the scar underneath his chin. If she studied the rest of his body, she was likely to find even more scars she was sure of. The man was handsome, in a grizzled way. She was curious what color eyes he has, and if they matched his golden-brown hair and beard. “What about the other two? Are they wrestlers?”

“Yep,” Tim stated distracted, fixing one of the hoses that connected to the IV line. “Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns. All part of a faction known as the Shield. They just got back together.”

“Huh,” Donna said in answer. From the way she studied the two men’s expressions outside and their mannerisms when they first arrived, it looked as if _back together_ meant something entirely else other than just wrestling.

The ride was a calm one, unlike many of their other ones. Until the monitors started giving out a beeping that struck Donna to the core.

All three jumped into action, screaming curses and other instructions to one another.

“BP rising.” John barked, watching the monitor up ahead.

“Damn it, this guy must be bleeding like a stuck pig inside or something. The heart rate is going all erratic on us.” Tim yelled, the monitor screeching in the background warning them of impending heart failure if they couldn’t get his heart rate back to a normal rhythm.

“The patient’s seizing.” Donna ground out. “Get ready for defib.”

Chaos erupted in the back of the ambulance, as Dean seized on the board, body pulling and tugging at the restraints across his chest. The three paramedics hit hyper speed as they began to quickly try and hook up the defib machine to shock Dean’s heart into a normal rhythm.

Chaos of a different kind was happening in the car behind the ambulance.

 

* * *

 

“Stop doing that.” Roman chided firmly.

Seth stopped biting at his lower lip at hearing Roman’s command. He was sure his lip was a bruised, bloody mess by now.

Roman kept his eyes on the ambulance in front of him, the flashing lights and sirens were beginning to give him a major migraine. His hands were white knuckled on the steering wheel, if he gripped it any harder he was sure it might break.

“What do you think is going on?” Seth finally asked to break the silence.

Roman shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. He was fine when he went to bed that night.” The feel and look of Dean’s cold, clammy skin was sure to haunt his nightmares for years to come. The feeling of total helplessness washed over him again. Roman was so used to others leaning on him, relying on him to be strong and have all the answers, however, Roman didn’t have any answers. He didn’t have a clue what to do and their well-oiled relationship was beginning to fall apart. Each man was being thrust into roles they weren’t used to playing and they couldn’t handle it.

“Roman?” 

“Yeah?” Roman answered, not liking how quiet and muted Seth’s voice was. He turned to look at him for a second, and the look in the man’s eyes made Roman’s heart seize in his chest.

“I’m scared.”

Roman swallowed, focusing his eyes back on the road and the ambulance in front of him. He could see bodies in the back flying around and it unnerved him to say the least. He didn’t know what was happening and having one of his boys not under his watch was _killing_ him. “Don’t worry baby.” Roman reassured. “He’s a lunatic he’ll be fine.”

Roman said the words and they did a little bit to reassure Seth considering the man finally sunk into the seat but his hollow words were just that...empty.

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean was always indestructible...until one day he wasn't.

The coffee cup was beginning to burn his hand, but Seth didn’t have the energy to even _think_ to set it down. He was curled up in the waiting room chair, with Roman slouched next to him. It’s been about three hours since they arrived at the hospital. Dawn was beginning to break outside signaling it was already morning time.

Roman had been on the phone for about an hour contacting Stephanie and Hunter as well as a few friends to alert them to the news of what happened. They promised to come see them as soon as they got the chance and had told them to stay in touch. Ever since the phone call both he and Roman had sat in silence, each contemplating the worst, and worrying themselves to death, _begging_ anyone to come and give them news.

A kindly nurse, with graying hair and a tired smile walked in and gave Seth and Roman some coffee not too long ago but Seth hasn’t begun to touch his. Roman’s was sitting next to them on the table, long since cold.

They had been sanctioned off into a private waiting room to avoid the crazy buzz that was beginning to filter into the hospital. There has been no official statement made by WWE yet, but knowing them Seth knew there would be soon. With that news always came even more attention.

Before they knew it, the hospital was sure to be getting phone calls and visitors trying to be nosy and intrusive. Even though WWE will not release the name of the hospital itself or town, but fans online had a certain way of finding this information out and it creeped Seth out. He did an involuntary shiver and gripped the coffee cup tighter in his hand, enjoying the warmth.

Sparing a glance at his other partner, Roman was currently leaning down, his hands dangling between his legs and his long, black hair hiding his face. He almost looked to be praying and even though Seth wasn’t religious, he found comfort in the sentiment.

“Come on damn it.” Seth mumbled under his breath, watching as the clock ticked away on the wall adjacent to him. There had to be _some_ news or something. It was beginning to drive him literally insane with worry. His stomach seemed to be a gaping hole of anxiety that was beginning to eat away at Seth’s sanity and resolve.

“Patience, _uce_.” Roman muttered in his deep voice, finally lifting from his leaning over position to straighten out in the chair. He stretched his arms above his head until he felt his back give a satisfying crack before deflating into the seat again.

“How can you be so calm?” Seth asked, no hint of malice in his voice.

Roman shrugged, turning to his other lover to give him his full attention. Seth looked like.... well like shit. His hair was all fuzzy and over the place, put into a very sloppy bun with a rubber band given to him by one of the nurses. His face had worry lines deeply engraved next to his mouth and forehead making him appear about ten years older. Roman noted the slight shake he had to his hand and worried about the man spilling his hot coffee on himself. Without asking, Roman easily took the coffee away from Seth and set in on the table. He grabbed the man’s warm hand in his own and gripped it tightly.

Seth sighed and grabbed his hand just as tightly back.

Roman began rubbing soothing circles atop the man’s hand, slightly humming to himself. “It’ll be alright.” Roman murmured again, closing his eyes. “ _He’ll_ be alright.”

Seth seemed like he believed Roman’s words because the shaking in his hand finally eased and he truly began to relax in his seat. Roman counted it as a small victory. He sighed to himself and kept repeating the mantra _focus on Seth_ , because if he even began to turn that attention back to himself, he’d be falling apart.

* * *

Doctor Johnson washed his hands in the sink with a long sigh. After, three hours of surgery he normally felt exhausted, but the three hours of _this_ surgery definitely made him feel drained.

It was a long, arduous process of trying to determine exactly where the bleeding was occurring and stop. The man on the operating table was in amazing shape, as noted by his profession but that same profession can sometimes cause injuries and sometimes those injuries can develop into even worse situations. Unfortunately for that man, his situation turned into something a lot worse.

If they would have waited any longer to call in for an ambulance the patient on the table wouldn’t have made it. Doctor Johnson is certain of that. The man had already lost a great deal of blood due to internal bleeding before starting the surgery. The process of opening him up and trying to discover hidden bleeders was tricky. It’s something he’s done in his profession numerous of times, but it never got any easier, and the cases were always vastly different from one another.

“Did you want to talk to the family, or should I?” Nurse Felicia asked softly.

Doctor Johnson sighed. “No, I’ll do it. Just make sure they have him on some strong antibiotics because chances for infection are extremely high.”

The Nurse gave a quick shake of her head and sped off out of the surgery doors. Talking to the families was always the worst part of the job for him.

Doctor Johnson sighed again as he dried off his hands and made his way out to the waiting room.

* * *

Seth was just about finished biting off his pinky nail when he finally spotted a Doctor walking with purpose toward them. “Hey!” Seth said in a hurry, bumping Roman who had dozed off briefly. Roman awoke quickly with a snort, which Seth would have found adorable in any given situation _except_ the one they were currently in.

“Gentlemen.” Doctor Johnson addressed firmly. “I was Mr. Ambrose’s attending surgeon and I’m happy to state that he’s currently out of surgery and in the recovery ward right now.”

Seth and Roman had jumped to attention as soon as the Doctor walked up to them but they both felt like deflating like jelly at the news.   
“Thank fuck.” Roman cursed, despite himself, Seth grabbed his arm and nodded his sentiments. “Excuse my language Doctor, we’ve both been-”

“No need to apologize.” Doctor Johnson said quickly. “I’ve heard way worse and I understand your situation. Now, I should only really be speaking to family on this matter and-” The Doctor gave a double take between the two, no doubt noting automatically the striking differences in appearance from both of them compared to Dean.

“We’re on his emergency contact list!” Seth blurted out quickly.

“Yeah,” Roman nodded in agreeance. “We should be listed under his contacts.”

“Good enough.” Doctor Johnson shrugged. “I’m sure I can believe you both. Now, lets talk a little bit about what we are dealing with here and the recovery. Did you two want to follow me to my office to chat? Or should we just continue our conversation out here?”  
Seth looked at Roman who simply shrugged his shoulders in response. “Please,” Seth wet his lips at noticing how dry they were before continuing, “tell us now.”

“Not a problem. First off, you’re very, very lucky when you brought your friend in when you did. If he didn’t receive medical attention right away I’m afraid he likely wouldn’t have made it.”

Roman gave an involuntary shutter, his heart freezing in his chest. Seth’s hand that was currently wrapped around his forearm squeezed until he swore there was blood drawn. The sheer luck that occurred with getting woken up due to the lighting and then discovering Dean was finally washing over Roman. _We could have lost him._ Roman thought to himself.

“Jesus,” Seth whispered shakily, taking the words directly from Roman’s mouth.

The Doctor let the two men absorb the news for a minute before continuing. “The surgery went fine. We’ve located the bleeders and cauterized them. He suffered internal bleeding from blunt force trauma to the right-hand section of his chest. He’s lost a lot of blood so currently we have him receiving some transfusion and he’s on a heavy dose of antibiotics because infection risk is very high. He should be waking up from surgery maybe in the next few hours or so, or possibly later. He’s in the recovery ward but we’ll be moving him into the ICU after a day or so in the recovery unit. The biggest risk right now is infection and we’ll be monitoring him for that. Other than that, he should have a high risk of recovery. We can talk about his expected return date to his work as well as other activities the farther we get into his recovery, any questions?”

Seth blinked, trying to absorb the information that was presented to him. Words like recovery, infection, bleeders, and blunt force trauma rattled around in his brain.

“So...what you’re saying is he’s going to be okay?” Roman finally asked.

The Doctor chuckled seeing the bewildered expression on the two men’s faces. He wasn’t sure how they were specifically related to his patient but noting the way the shorter man had his hand wrapped around the other man’s arm and the way they stood so close together gave Doctor Johnson a few ideas, but he never asked, nor judged. “Yes, barring any complications he should be.”

Roman and Seth both gave a huge sigh of relief. Hours of panic, anxiety and worry draining from them as if they took a plug out of the bathtub.

“You won’t be able to visit him in recovery but once he’s moved to the ICU unit he can have two visitors at once.”

Seth looked about ready to protest, wanting to see Dean _now_ but he held his tongue. They really needed to call Stephanie and Hunter again with the news and figure out a game plan for what they were going to do.

“Thank you, Doctor.” Roman spoke up, shaking the man’s hand and Seth following suit.

“No thanks needed gentlemen, I’ll leave you two to your thoughts. Have one of the nurses’ page me if you need anything.” With that the Doctor walked off leaving Roman and Seth alone.

“Jesus Christ,” Seth muttered flopping down into the chair. He vigorously rubbed his face, trying to calm down his jittery nerves. His heart was racing in his chest, thumping hard enough to actually be painful.

Roman sat down gingerly in the seat hands on his lap. “We almost....” Roman stopped himself before going further. No need to actually voice that aloud. The good news was that Dean had made it out of surgery and was going to be okay.

They had to believe that. They had too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for continuing on this journey with me! I love all the reviews you guys send me, they really do motivate me. Not a lot happened in this chapter, mostly just feelings and emotions from Seth and Roman however the next chapter picks up a lot. We'll check back in with Dean, more characters will be added, more problems will come a long the way (of fucking course) but I am really liking where this is officially heading. I think this may be a longer story than originally anticipated all depends on where the muse takes me I suppose. I am also working on a sequel of sorts to my recent fic The Thrill so stay tuned for that. Hope you all are continuing to enjoy the story.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean was always indestructible...until one day he wasn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had this sitting on my computer for awhile. It's definitely longer than the previous chapters so I hope you enjoy! The action is slowly starting to pick up in this story and more characters will be added as we move along. Thanks for sticking with me and reading and reviewing! I love reading all of the stuff you guys send me.

Roman gave one last fleeting look at his lover passed out on the bed before he slipped outside of the motel room to make a phone call.

After the news of Dean’s surgery both Seth and himself were feeling downright exhausted to the point of near collapse. They weren’t allowed back to see Dean yet until they had transferred him to the ICU so that left Roman and Seth feeling useless and helpless. Seth wanted to simply camp out in the hospital’s waiting room but Roman finally convinced the man to get a motel room for the night. Seth’s knee still gave him problems if he slept on it wrong, or had it cramped up for too long. Considering the amount of pacing and sitting Seth did that day, and the way the younger man was slightly limping Roman finally coerced Seth into sleeping in an actual bed. Of course, he had to frame it to where Seth believed doing so would help Dean in some way. Consider it silly, but Roman wasn’t looking a gift horse in the mouth when Seth agreed.

The hospital had an adjunct motel that operated just a block from the building, it was largely used by families of patients at the hospital. The kind doctor who operated on Dean had already booked them a room so all they really had to do was just go to their room to sleep.

Seth basically passed out as soon as his face hit the mattress. Roman wasn’t as lucky. For as exhausted as he was his mind just wouldn’t stop replaying the words the doctor had told him earlier.

_“First off, you’re very, very lucky when you brought your friend in when you did. If he didn’t receive medical attention right away I’m afraid he likely wouldn’t have made it.”_

The thought of losing Dean, or losing Seth downright fucking terrified Roman. It broke him to the core. He was supposed to be their older brother, their protector so anytime something happened to one of them he instantly felt like a failure. The feelings of shame, guilt, and anxiety were pounding against his temples painfully giving him a migraine.

Stepping outside into the cool air did little to soothe the pain either. His hand was shaking as he drug it across his face to try and wipe the sleepiness from his features.

Dialing the number from rote memory, Roman held the phone up to his ear and awaited the answer. It only took about two full rings before Hunter was picking up the phone.

_“Reigns. We’ve been waiting for your call.”_

Roman swallowed, not at all liking the tone of the man’s voice. He grit his teeth and decided to ignore it in favor of actually delivering the news. “Yeah, Dean’s out of surgery and me and Seth have to wait to see him until he’s moved to the ICU. The doctor said that he should recover but chance of infection is high. They won’t know more about his recovery time until he begins to heal.”

Hunter hummed loudly on the phone as if he was just told the joke of the day from the newspaper. The response infuriated Roman to the point where he felt the phone begin to crack slightly from how tight he was gripping it. “Hmmm? That’s all you have to say?”

_“Watch your tone with me Roman. I don’t think you will like the outcome if you continue to be snippy. I understand you and Seth are stressed out but with Ambrose now out for months it’s sounding like we’ll need you two back as soon as possible.”_

Roman blinked a few times, trying to decipher if what he was hearing was actual real life right now. A car horn honked in the distance causing Roman to shake his head to try and clear his foggy brain. “Come again?”

_“Am I speaking in tongues? We **need** you and Seth ASAP, Roman. I know your relationship with Dean but as soon as they clear Dean from the ICU I’m going to have a private jet pick you two up to take you to the next house show. We have to be working double duty now since Dean got himself hurt.”_

Roman let out a growl at the words scaring the nearby alley cat from the trashcan it was perched on. “Don’t you fucking **dare** blame Dean for what happened!” Roman snarled. “Fucking Sheamus and Cesaro were working way too stiff out there. Dean’s fucking chest was almost caved in! He was hit hard enough to cause _internal bleeding_! The man hasn’t even woken up yet from surgery and you want me and Seth to just _leave_ Dean here by himself? You’re fucking out of your mind, Hunter.”

_“Reigns-”_ Hunter began again, his tone stone cold serious but Roman cut him off with more harsh words. “NO! Fuck this company. If you knew the relationship I share with Dean you’d be more understanding of what I and Seth are going through. We ain’t leaving him behind. Tell Sheamus and Cesaro to cover us since it’s their fault for the injury. My ass ain’t leaving this hospital until Dean is better, believe that!”

With that Roman angrily clicked off before Hunter could even respond. The shakiness from earlier gotten worse at the anger that was currently welling up in him. He felt like punching something-more like _someone_ actually. Pacing back and forth in front of their door like a caged animal Roman did his best to try and calm himself down before going back inside.

He needed to keep his cool otherwise he’d fall apart completely.

Stopping his pacing, Roman closed his eyes and took a deep breath in and held it before letting it out. “Shit,” He murmured to himself, leaning his head against the cold brick walls on the outside of the motel. He just totally told his boss to fucking stick it. Maybe it was career suicide but Roman didn’t give a shit. The company meant nothing to him without Dean in it, or Seth.

Giving one last shake to get his jitters out Roman stepped back inside the motel room.

He slowly stripped off his clothes, set an alarm on his phone to wake them early enough to get some breakfast and a shower before heading back to the hospital, and typed out a quick reminder on his phone to call Sami before settling in behind Seth to finally try and get some sleep.

He gave Seth’s forehead a quick kiss, brushing back his hair softly with a smile on his face. God damnit, the fucking love he had for these two men was absolutely insane. He snuggled against Seth’s back before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Lights and sounds returned to him slowly. It felt like he was swimming in a very wide and deep ocean, but his legs weren’t actually moving. Almost like he was simply...floating. He couldn’t feel the water though, he couldn’t feel much of anything now that he actively thought about it. The buzzing in his head grew to an intolerable decibel forcing him to groan.

Lights flashed before his eyes causing pain despite him seeing only darkness. His existence trickled down to just one big heaping pile of constant pain.

Trying to even open his eyes right now was a chore. They felt incredibly heavy, almost like two anvils were resting atop them.

The buzzing finally lowered into a dull murmur. If Dean focused enough he could make out more than just sounds...almost like words were being said but he couldn’t understand the language.

What the fuck was happening right now? Dean wondered to himself. He was feeling confused as fuck; his brain was jumping from one thing to another trying to piece it all together, but he kept feeling like he was missing a few pieces...or maybe a lot of them.

Feeling began creeping back into his body to where he could feel his legs now which was a good sign. His eyes remained stubbornly closed no matter how hard he tried to pry them open. The feeling returning to his body continued traveling up his legs until it reached his chest area and holy fucking hell.

If Dean had the power to sit up right now he definitely would have. It felt like his chest was on _fire._ The pain was so intense that despite his eyes wanting to stay shut they flew open anyway.

“Fuck...” He slurred closing his eyes again at the harsh white light that invaded them. Pain began to dance across his head in waves. The room suddenly felt all too small and tight, like it was closing in on him. The disconcerting feeling of the room spinning and the fire that was fucking blazing across his chest had him swallowing thickly before he was quickly puking his guts up.

He did his best to turn his head to the side, but the vomit splashed up onto his face and neck. He had little energy to do nothing else but accept his fate and heave it seemed like. Nothing was coming up though, just endless amounts of bile and water.

The pain that he felt beforehand was absolutely _nothing_ compared to the pain of having to heave with a chest that felt like it had descended to the depths of hell. Tears sprung to his eyes involuntarily and he was pretty sure he let out a pretty loud grunt that could have easily been a scream before the voices of before began to get louder and clearer.

“Shit! I need some help in here stat!”

“Brace him, make sure he doesn’t pull the stiches out. He must be reacting badly to the pain medication.”

“I thought we weren’t supposed to give him pain medication yet?”

Words like pain medication, stiches and other things flashed across Dean’s mind in a slow crawl before Dean just stopped functioning completely. Darkness soon evaded his vision and it was lights out for Dean Ambrose.

“Damn it. Call Doctor Johnson in here immediately.” Nurse Felicia said in a rough tone skidding into the doorway and making a beeline for the bed. The other nurse on duty, Gloria, gave a quick nod before rushing off.

Nurse Felicia gently swept the man’s hair away from his head and tried her best to avoid the vomit that was covering the man’s neck and chin. He was deadweight in her arms and as a comfort for herself she quickly felt his pulse at his neck and breathed a sigh of relief. They had just removed his intubation tube not too long ago and it had appeared he was doing well and would awaken soon. However, judging by the vomiting something definitely wasn’t right.

More orderlies began to fill the room and assisted Nurse Felicia in cleaning up the vomit to the best of their abilities. She knew that Doctor Johnson had other patients on different floors, so it might be a few minutes before he arrived, so Nurse Felicia took it upon herself to pull the man’s gown down and check on his sutures. She set the man’s head gently back on the pillow and pulled down the blanket that was covering him. She deposited it on the floor for the housekeeping staff to pick up.

“Hand me some scissors.” Nurse Felicia asked, holding out a hand. Within a second of her request a pair of medical scissors were placed gently in her palm. She began cutting away at the gauze that was covering the man’s chest and breathed a sigh of relief at seeing the neat row of stiches placed by Doctor Johnson still intact.

That was at least one thing to breathe easy about.

“What happened?” Doctor Johnson asked in concern walking quickly over to his patient. He took in the different monitors trying to get a quick reading of how his patient was as other orderlies tried to fix the beeping machines and wires that went haywire at the fiasco.

“I was down the hall when I heard the noise over here.” Nurse Felicia began. “I came in to the patient vomiting and had another staff member brace him so that he didn’t rip his sutures. It appears as if the patient lost consciousness and we did our best to clean up the vomit and keep it away from his incision.”

As the machines were being adjusted Doctor Johnson did a quick self-check of his vitals. He felt the man’s pulse to try and gauge his heart rate and did a quick forehead feel to try and gauge on whether he had a fever still. Post-operative fever was quite common but should wear off after an hour or two after surgery. Dean had been out of surgery now for about four hours.

“You did good nurse.” Doctor Johnson praised. Dean was clammy, probably from the exertion of vomiting and his heart rate was a little fast but given the man had woken up from surgery then quickly went to vomiting that was to be expected.

“Any ideas on what caused the sudden nausea?” Nurse Felicia asked, she had the patients hand clasped within her own and began rubbing circles on his wrist for comfort. The other nurses giggled and blushed when setting him up because apparently, he was a celebrity of some sort, and given the man’s handsome face and toned body some of the nurses couldn’t help themselves. Felicia was always so busy with her work that she rarely had time for TV so the man on the bed was a complete stranger to her, but she felt compelled to offer some form of comfort given how scary of a situation the man had found himself in. Waking up from surgery wasn’t ever fun but it definitely wasn’t fun when you get immediately sick.

Doctor Johnson hummed and furrowed his brow in thought. “Did they happen to give him pain medication?”

“There wasn’t an order to do so sir. The antiesthetic should have stopped the pain for a few hours after surgery. The only order given was for antibiotics which he’s getting through and intravenous drip, as well as a blood transfusion.” Nurse Felicia replied, equally as puzzled. “I’ll look into though.” She was going to get to the bottom of this mystery stat.

“Thank you.” Doctor Johnson said, nodding his head to her as she left. Breathing a sign of relief as the machines stopped beeping and a normal rhythm began to appear on the screens again. He stared at his patient, Dean Ambrose, noting that he would need a bath now due to the vomit and he made a mental note to schedule him for a sponge bath.

“You sir won’t be an easy one, will you?” Doctor Johnson chuckled staring Dean down with bemusement. Something told Doctor Johnson he was in for a wild ride with this one and considering who Dean had waiting for him, this wasn’t going to be a very easy patient to deal with.

* * *

_"I am better than some hell cat with rabies who was never my friend, who was never my brother, and who I never gave a damn about in the first place.”_

Seth startled awake with a gasp, the early morning sun broke through the motel window and hit him directly in the eye making him wince. His voice echoing cruelly in his head.

“Morning.” Roman emerged with a toothbrush in his mouth, toothpaste suds getting stuck to his beard from him trying to talk around the toothbrush.

Seth curled his lip in disgust and tried his best to bury his head back in the pillow. Fuck he was so damn tired. He thought to himself silently. Seth groaned in the pillow and slowly rose out of the bed swinging his feet off and planting them firmly on the carpet floor. He took a minute to compose himself and breathed deeply. “You best not have hogged all the hot water.”

Roman finished brushing his teeth with a gargle and a spit. He gave Seth one of his patented cheeky grins and crossed his chest. “Scouts honor.”

Seth just rolled his eyes pushing himself up off the bed. “I’ll believe that when I see it.” He pushed past Roman into the bathroom and relieved himself before stripping off his clothes and hopping in the shower.

The water was thankfully warm and Roman pretty much left him to his own devices in the shower which was a blessing. Roman had a way of hovering that he considered way worse than what he does. If Seth was the helicopter Mom, then Roman was definitely the silent, brooding Dad type with Dean as the crazy ass uncle that demanded why you were hurt and for you to just take a sip of jack with him to make you better. God bless the lunatic, but his bedside manners were basically nonexistent.

Once he finished up in the shower he wrapped a towel around himself and quickly shuffled through what little things they had managed to throw into a bag with them before heading off to the hospital.

Roman was sitting at the small little dining table housed inside the motel. It was a comical sight given how big Roman actually was, and adding to the fact that Roman had a tiny ass cup of coffee nestled in his gigantic hands. Seth would have instantly mocked the scene if this was a different circumstance. However, this was the reality they faced. Their other half was in a hospital bed fighting for his life.

Shivering despite the room being quite warm, Seth threw on a hoodie that looked like it was possibly Dean’s for comfort before sitting across from Roman and snaking the other coffee cup that was resting there. “What’s the game plan today?”

Roman shrugged, setting his coffee cup down. “I called Sami this morning and asked if he could stop by and bring us our things and I called Hunter last night to update him on Dean’s condition.”

Seth watched as Roman’s eyes hardened at the mention of Hunter’s name. He wondered what the conversation consisted of but choose not to ask about it. Roman would tell him in due time.

“I figured we can have Sami meet us at the hospital. I just want to go see Dean.”

Seth nodded his head in agreement, taking a sip of coffee with a sigh. “Well, let’s get going then.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean was always indestructible...until one day he wasn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the big wait for this chapter! I was having trouble getting motivated to write and with Dean currently out on injury I've been in and out on watching wrestling. Dean was a big reason as to why I stopped my 6 year hiatus for it and with him gone it's hard to sometimes motivate to watch. However with wrestlemania today and the excitement in the air from takeover last night and today I've been getting back into the swing of things and had ideas flowing for this chapter. Hope you enjoy this one the ride is only getting started so buckle in!

Sami pushed through the hospital doors with a purpose, brushing past the reporters and heaps of fans clamoring for more information on the “lunatic fringe” currently recovering there.

Fans and weirdos alike yelled his name and reached to grab at his clothing, but Sami was too fast and slick to be held back and with the force of the hospital security and police camped out front then Sami was making it inside in no time.

“Back off ya vultures!” Sami spat angrily as the doors closed behind him. He quickly brushed off his clothes and straightened his patented hat before hefting the duffle back higher up on his shoulder.

He had one mission and one mission only which was to see his injured friend.

He knew that WWE put out a statement regarding Dean, but he didn’t think they gave away his location. Sami was always surprised and weirded out by how well some fans could dig for information.

Dean and he became fast friends once Sami came to the main roster. Dean was very laid back, and calm and was a nice counter to Sami’s quirky personality. He and Dean got into heaps of trouble together during their small run as a tag team. Dean would have given Sami the shirt off his back if need be that’s just kind of the man Dean was. Sami wanted to return his kindness and friendship just as Dean has done for him on numerous occasions.

News travels fast within the wrestling community so once Sami got wind of what had occurred after a RAW house show he quickly talked to Shane and Daniel before Roman called him asking for help in gathering their things.

Daniel was understanding, as was Shane. Dean was well liked by many of the workers. They allowed Sami the time off to visit his friend and to help Dean’s partners.

It wasn’t any secret what Dean, Seth and Roman had together but few knew just how deep that certain thing was, so they didn’t trust many guys and honestly Sami couldn’t blame them in the slightest. Some people in their industry just couldn’t be trusted on the professional level let alone the personal one.

Sami looked a bit out of place in the world of sterility and coldness that the hospital presented. Hospitals always gave Sami the creeps, but he made sure his smile was bright as he briskly walked down the aisles. Dean was housed on the 3rd floor in intensive care and he was meeting Seth and Roman at his room to hand over their belongings as they asked.

Hitting the button to the elevator impatiently, Sami whistled as he rocked on the balls of his feet waiting for the ding. People gave him odd stares and some people’s eyes lit up at seeing him, obviously recognizing him, but they didn’t stop him at all which Sami was thankful for.

Waiting for the elevator to climb was like torture for Sami. His palms were sweaty, and his heart rate was speeding up due to anxiety twisting in his gut. The pure horror and dread that washed over him when he heard the news of what happened to Dean was awful.

He was anxious to finally see his friend with his own two eyes to ensure he was okay.

Making a quick pace down the hall until he finally reached room 313 Sami did a double take at the beefy looking guys standing guard out front.

Sami tried to just waltz into the room but was held back by a meaty hand to the chest.

“We can’t let you through unless you are on the permitted list.”

Sami laughed awkwardly and scratched at his red beard. “I’m kind of a wrestler as well guys? Sami Zayn....ya know the ska guy....” Sami mumbled off as he noticed the confusion shinning between the lugs standing before him.

“Uh...what?”

“It’s okay guys.”

Sami’s face brightened at seeing Seth pop his head out of the room. The man looked downright pitiful in his worn band tee, sweat pants and his hair frizzed out to no end put up in a messy bun. Sami felt sympathy well up inside of him at the state of his friend before him.

“Are you sure Mr. Rollins?” The man asked sternly and after a head shake from Seth the men parted the seas to the door and Sami briefly stepped into the darkened room.

It was strange going from a well-lit, white hallway to a very dark, almost suffocating atmosphere. A pale blue curtain was covering half of the room and the view of what Sami assumed was Dean on the bed and Roman as well.

Seth ushered him in quickly and shut the door softly behind them.

“Thanks so much for coming.” Seth mumbled gratefully.

Sami’s lips twisted in sympathy and before he could say anything he was pulling in Seth for a big, comforting hug. Seth was rather stiff at first but soon melted into Sami’s warm embrace. “Nowhere else I’d rather be friend.”

“What exactly happened?” Sami asked after relinquishing Seth from his tight grip.

Seth sighed, rubbing his eyes harshly before deflating. “Were not even sure. We had a match with Cesaro, Sheamus and the Miz and Dean was inside the ring for awhile and was acting really off and stiff like he was hurt. The trainers said he just bruised a few ribs...”

Seeing the horror flashing in Seth’s eyes Sami shushed him gently and laid a comforting arm atop his shoulder. “I don’t need the details. How’s he doing?”

“Better.” Seth breathed out. “He’s sleeping right now. He had complications from someone injecting the wrong medication.” Seth ground out before continuing. “Roman almost got kicked out of the hospital due to how angry he was when he got here and found out what happened. They have him on an IV drip for antibiotics, something for pain and he’s back on oxygen again since his levels were dipping really low.”

“What did the boss say?” Sami asked gently.

“I didn’t talk to them Roman did. He wouldn’t say much about the conversation but from what I could gather it wasn’t a good one. Roman was really pissed this morning, so I imagine Hunter or Stephanie, take your pick, said something to really aggravate him.”

“Well Daniel and Shane send their condolences. Daniel _really_ wanted to come but he had commitments, but he said he’s going to fly out as soon as he possibly can.”

“Dean will like that.” Seth said smiling. “Thank you again for bringing our stuff. We’ve been living at the hospital since we got here and as you can see I haven’t gotten my appropriate hours of beauty sleep. I can only imagine the pictures the paparazzi and fans are out there snapping of me and Roman.”

Sami laughed softly and shook his head with a bemused smile on his face.

“Did you want to see him?” Seth asked sincerely, waving his hand towards the curtained off area.

Sami gulped but nodded his head anyway.

Seth led them to the curtained area and slipped between the long flowing fabric where it parted. Sami eye’s widened at seeing his friend on the bed. Machines and wires were surrounding Dean’s form, almost engulfing him to the point that Sami wasn’t sure where Dean started, and the wires ended. The beeping was a monotonous reminder of how ill his friend really was, the small sound of the oxygen going, and Roman’s big form squashed into an uncomfortable chair holding on to Dean’s milky pale hand topped off the picture.

Sami was sure this image would be emblazoned in his mind for a while. 

“You can sit down.” Roman muttered gruffly but not unfriendly. Roman was friendly enough when confronted but put Roman into high stress situations and he turned into someone a lot gruffer and rough around the edges. Sami knew Seth and Dean for a long time before coming to WWE and they just transitioned their friendships when they met back up. Roman had been someone new that Sami encountered and if Dean and Seth trusted and loved Roman than Sami could learn to do the same thing.

Sami just nodded and walked around the bed to where he assumed Seth was sitting earlier. He wasn’t sure if he should touch Dean or not. He looked so pale, with dark circles surrounding his eyes contrasting harshly with his scruffy beard and scraggly hair.

“You won’t hurt him” Seth encouraged softly, his hands entangled atop Roman’s shoulders on the other side of the bed.

Sami swallowed and softly set his hand atop his friend’s warm one.

“That tickles.”

Sami jumped back with a gasp, “holy shit!”

With his heart hammering inside his chest, Sami took a few lungsful of air before noticing the small smile lighting up Dean’s face.

“Dean?” Roman asked with concern.

“Babe you okay?” Seth parroted quickly afterward not sparring the poor ginger flipping out on the other side of the bed any mind.

“I’m fine...” Dean rasped, blinking open owlish eyes as his grin got wider.   
“You fucking asshole.” Sami berated. “You scared me half to death.”

“What it tickled?” Dean said innocently with a small chuckle, but his laughing soon turned to harsh coughs that rocked his frame to the core. Sami winced at hearing how wet sounding the coughing was and the pain that danced across Dean’s face with the motion.

“Shit fuck...” Sami muttered before an idea popped into his head. “I’ll go run for some water, okay?” Sami said anxiously.

“Sorry....” He mumbled quickly to Roman as he was leaving at noticing the steely look in the big man’s eyes.

“I told you we should have called Finn...” Roman muttered helping Seth to help Dean settle.

“Be nice,” Seth chided firmly.

“Jesus fuck...” Dean breathed out after the coughing dissipated. Any amount of moving and breathing was excruciatingly painful, but Dean didn’t let Seth or Roman know it. Ever since waking back up, again, as he’s been told, Seth and Roman have hovered to the point of insanity. While the comfort was nice it began to grate a little on Dean’s nerves.

“You need anything baby?” Seth asked anxiously, hands smoothing over the blankets for the hundredth time.

“Jus...water...” Dean rasped slowly doing his best to let the oxygen help him breathe. The site where he was sliced open was sore as fuck and got aggravated at any movement he did despite the pain medication. The Doctor explained it to Dean when Seth and Roman weren’t in ear shot and apparently, he was almost done for.

The reality of what had almost happened crashed over Dean like a bucket of cold ice water after hearing that. It made Seth and Roman’s demeanor and attitudes more understandable. Sometimes Dean struggled to accept the love and care that Seth and Roman displayed, but he had to think about it if the shoe was on the other foot and if it was Seth or Roman in the bed and Dean would be pretty ramped up to. So, he couldn’t really begrudge their feelings.

“Sami will be back with it soon.” Roman said softly. “How you feeling babe?” Roman smoothed his big palm across Dean’s forehead wiping his sweaty bangs to the side.

Dean thought about straight up lying but when his stomach pulsed painfully, and his brow furrowed underneath Roman’s thumb rubbing soft circles across his brow he decided to just be honest. “Awful.”

“Damn,” Seth muttered. “Anything we can do?”

Seth’s hands had a way of doing things subconsciously without him realizing it. So as Seth was fretting his hands began to knead into Dean’s skull, massaging the top of his head and beginning to help mitigate the pounding at his temples.

“That feelss good...” Dean slurred closing his eyes and sighing enjoying the feelings of his two loves touching him and soothing his aches.

“Feels good huh?”

“Yeah...” Dean whispered, or possibly exhaled as his pain and stress from earlier was slowly falling away.

“Hopefully you’ll feel better when you wake up.” Roman said softly as he leaned down and placed a kiss atop Dean’s forehead.

The moment shared between the three men were broken as Sami yanked the curtains with gusto causing Dean’s eyes to fly open and his body to jolt from the shock. “Shit...” Dean said in agitation as his chest lit up with tendrils of pain that caused his stomach to spasm painfully.

“What the fuck Sami?” Roman roared, standing up and pushing the chair back with a loud scrap.

“Sorry...” Sami panted taking a minute to catch his breath as he gripped the glass of water in his shaky hands. “We....got...a....problem....” Sami finally got out.

“Spit it out Zayn.” Roman demanded.

Sami took a second to compose himself and breathe deeply at seeing three sets of angry eyes look his way.

“I just saw Bray Wyatt downstairs and he’s on his way up!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So....Sami is in as a character! I tried to keep him as his quirky, lovable self as much as possible. Hope I succeeded. What do you think Bray Wyatt is up to hmmm.....


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean was always indestructible...until one day he wasn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So sorry for the long wait for this chapter. Hopefully I should be getting in the swing of things again. I hope you enjoy this one and another story I will be working on that should come out soon. Thanks for reading and reviewing.

Roman all but growled as he sat up with a quick, “the hell he’s not” before pushing his way through the curtain with a determined purpose.

Sami blinked a few times before closing his mouth after realizing he looked like a gaping fish. He diverted his eyes to Seth and Dean who were staring as shell shocked as he was.

“Uh...I guess I’ll go make sure Roman doesn’t get arrested.” Sami said nervously, scratching at the back of his head before almost skipping out of the room.

Dean blinked a few times and even pinched himself rather hard to see if he was dreaming. The sting of his fingers told him he unfortunately wasn’t. “What the fuck...” Dean groaned, dropping his head to the pillow in a dramatic sigh. “Can’t a guy recover in fucking peace.”

Seth shushed him while running his hand through Dean’s hair subconsciously making sure his fingers gave a nice scratch like he knew Dean loved. The sentiment was endearing, and Dean fucking loved having his head scratched but it only served to irritate the headache that was brewing right behind his eyes.

His stomach felt queasy and in turn made his surgical site begin to throb. Catching a moan that wanted to escape, Dean began to try and sit himself up before Seth’s hands were firmly holding him down.

“Dean! You have to be careful or you’ll rip the incision.” Seth reminded him, while pushing him gently back down to the bed.

“Well, I can’t sit here and do fuck all while swamp ass does whatever the fuck he was planning on doing. Why the fuck does the man always have to irritate me?” Dean knew he sounded like a petulant child, but he couldn’t give a fuck right now. It shouldn’t really be a surprise. He and Bray always had a weird sort of connection that went back to their Shield days, it only got worse when he and Bray were on the same brand without Seth and Roman. The man always knew how to find him even when he didn’t want to be found and Bray absolutely loved to fuck with Seth and Roman any chance he got. Dean figured it was part of the reason why he was here, and the other half was seriously just seeing if he was alright. Bray had a warped sense of caring.

“I think we both know that answer.” Seth said with a grit of his teeth, a steely look in his eyes. “Roman will take care of it.”

Dean rolled his eyes, but it shone in his blue orbs how thankful he was for that. He didn’t have the energy or mental mindset to even deal with Bray right now. “Thank fuck.”

“Your head hurting?” Seth asked in concern at seeing the pain settle between Dean’s eyebrows.

“Hmmm...” It wasn’t much of an answer but rather a hum, but Seth got the sentiment.

“I’ll page the nurse for more pain meds.” Seth said softly, leaning over Dean to hit the button for the nurse.   
Dean took comfort in the strong smell of Seth’s cologne with the lingering hint of the apricot body wash the man always insisted on using. It helped him relax more as he got caught in the limbo between sleeping and awake not really doing either but sort of just floating in an odd sensation between pain and comfort.

He’s been here in this situation many times before but never with the assurance that he had people there supporting him. Hospital visits in the past were always cold, unfriendly quick fix and exit type deals where he got the bare minimum of treatment and spent his nights in a motel room recuperating from blood loss or a concussion or even broken bones and lacerations.

Dean’s not sure how much time passed after he closed his eyes.

Voices and lights began filtering into his senses and feeling began to return to his extremities that tingled painfully. Dean groaned unintentionally and immediately a callused, warm palm ran over his forehead in a soothing motion saying his name softly.

“Dean?”

“S’th?” Dean guessed attempting to blink open his crusty eyes and focus his vision. The lights were off, so it was hard to make out shapes, they just appeared like blurry blobs.

“I’m right here babe, relax, okay?”

Dean just grunted in response breathing in deeply as a warm sensation began to overtake his body, almost to the point of burning.

“Nurse just gave you meds okay? Go back to sleep. I got ya.”

“R’mn?” Dean slurred out, puzzled at why he didn’t see their larger partner on the other side of his bed. “’kay?”

“Roman’s fine babe he’s downstairs taking care of something, he’ll be up soon. Go ahead and go to sleep once you’re awake he’ll be here I promise.”

Dean wanted to continue arguing but he was too tired and wore out to even form sentences. The warmness was soothing him into a deep slumber and the lights in the room got dimmer and dimmer to the point that it was becoming increasingly difficult to make out Seth’s features.

As Dean was finally getting pulled under he heard a quiet, “love you” and attempted to mumble out a “I love you, too” but he was sure it came out garbled and broken but judging on the quick flash of Seth’s smile he thinks he got the memo across.

Watching as Dean finally succumbed to medicated slumber Seth blew out a sigh of relief.

“Thanks,” Seth nodded to the nurse who had inserted the pain medication into his IV and was finishing up with checking his vitals.

“No problem sweetie.” The nurse was rather young, possibly younger than Seth himself, but she had a motherly attentiveness too her that Seth found comforting. She never once ogled either man like some women tended to do. Seth appreciated the hospital being careful with who they allowed into the room.

Seth watched from his seat next to Dean’s bedside as the nurse bustled around Dean’s bed, scribbling down information and checking different charts and vitals.

Seth kept a firm eye on her reactions, anxious for any changes that he may have missed. He wanted Dean healthy again and he’s been trying his hardest to be as attentive as possible to any small changes but he’s been running off of fumes for the last three days it feels like, so his brain hasn’t been functioning at 100%.

“Huh...seems like he has a slight fever.”

“Really?” Seth questioned, his spine stiffening as he did his own appraisal of Dean’s condition. His boy looked pale and skeletal with dark smudges under his eyes but now that Seth was actually _really_ looking he could spot the redness that was creeping into Dean’s cheeks and the sheen of sweat beginning to blossom on his forehead.

“Damn it.” Seth ground out in worry. His hands hovered over Dean’s form immediately trying to soothe but feeling helpless because he didn’t have a clue on what to do. “So, what does that mean?”

“Possibly an infection but I checked his incision and it looks clean. I’ll have the doctor stop by later today to evaluate him further. For now, we’ll start him on some antibiotics to try and counter react the fever.”

“Is there anything I can do?”

The nurse’s face softened but it did little to stop the rampant beating of Seth’s heart.

“Keep him cool by wetting a wash cloth and just continue being there for him. You’re doing amazing so far sweetie so don’t worry, okay?” She laid a comforting hand on his shoulder and squeezed before stepping out of the room.

Seth blew out a breath and slumped further into the chair. “Well fuck.”

Digging into his pocket, Seth pulled out his phone and quickly texted their other partner asking if he was alright and to get his ass back up here. Looks like they were in for round two with Dean.

“You just don’t know when to quit do you?” Seth asked jokingly, taking Dean’s lax hand and squeezing it.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean was always indestructible...until one day he wasn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! Here with a new update for you! This one is longer so hopefully it satisfies. Things are only taking a down hill turn from here so hopefully you all are hanging on tight.

“Do you really think this is a very good idea?” Sami fretted anxiously next to Roman’s side, almost oozing awkwardness and anxiety.

Roman shushed him harshly, scanning the underground broiler room for the swamp face ass hat that was going to meet Roman’s fist.

He didn’t even realize Sami had tagged along until Sami started his unnecessary commentary of being freaked out by the smoking pipes.

His quick search at the front desk at the nurse’s station revealed Bray had come through but he was sent up to the room. Roman would have saw him if he tried to get past him so his inspection of the hospital floors eventually led to a slightly ajar door for the entrance to the broiler room.

The pipes steamed and hissed angrily as Roman ducked underneath the crisscrossed web above.

Sami dramatically gulped making Roman sigh and turn around.

“Sami will you shut the fuck up.” Roman whispered harshly his patience quickly wearing thin with the quirky individual.

Sami’s eyes however had zeroed in to a spot above Roman’s shoulder, his lips trembling and his throat working convulsively told Roman just how scared he was.

Roman felt a chill wash over his spine, spinning around quickly but the only thing that he could see was the steam wafting in the distance from the pipes.

“Mother fucker...” Roman muttered, rage settling over him until his fists tightened by his sides.

“No more games!” He yelled angrily, his loud voice booming and echoing across the metal work. He was absolutely _done_ with people trying to play games with him and his boys.

He didn’t feel a hand on his shoulder until the red haze that enveloped him died down and his angry breathing descended into a mere huff. He turned his head to see Sami give him a small smile of comfort accompanied with a slight squeeze of his hand.

Roman didn’t say anything but nod his head in thanks. “Let’s go find us a Wyatt, Zayn.”

 

* * *

 

“Damn,” Doctor Johnson muttered, softly gliding his hand across the stitched wound of his patient feeling for rigidity.

“What? What’s that mean?” The nasally voice of his patient’s _lover_ rose in crescendo, but Doctor Johnson ignored him in favor of putting on his stethoscope and listening to his patient’s chest. The sounds of congested phlegm and rattling met his ears making him shake his head.

“Doctor what’s going on?”

Doctor Johnson set aside his stethoscope on his neck once more and softly addressed his nurse in the room to rebandage the patient with fresh dressings while he hurriedly scribbled some medication on a clipboard and passed it off to another nurse. Clicking his pen closed he placed it in his breast pocket and took a deep breath before facing the other man in the room, Seth Rollins.

He was about 6ft1with a good build that matched his patient and the other man not currently in the room. He was the more vocal side of their relationship Doctor Johnson assumed since he did most of the talking. The other guy, one Roman Reigns, who was noticeably absent was more of a brooding, silent type with eyes like daggers. He and the fellow had a few harsh words, but Doctor Johnson didn’t take it to heart. He knows the type of emotions and stress that run heavy in the hospital.

“Well, after doing an assessment it looks like Dean’s getting an infection. The wound looks clean but I’m going to have a nurse redress with fresh bandages every three hours to keep the risk of him getting more ill low.” Doctor Johnson waited to let Seth work over the new information. He hated delivering bad news.

Seth simply breathed deeply, his hand on the guardrail of Dean’s bed turning white due to how hard he was gripping the metal. He looked about one stiff breeze away from completely falling over. Doctor Johnson made a mental note to have a nurse come in more often to offer coffee or reminders for food.

“The fever is continuing but we’ve given him some fever reducers to hopefully keep it in check. We already have Dean on an oxygen cannula and I’m going to keep that on there since it sounds like his chest is rattling a bit, my biggest worry is this could develop into pneumonia.”

“I...how...” Seth stuttered before shaking his head in disbelief and re-wetting his dry lips. “What does this mean for Dean?”

“This means if he gets pneumonia than we have to worry about him reinjuring his ribcage. The harsh, wet coughs are sure to aggravate the wound even further and may undue some of my surgical work. Worse case scenario since his ribs are so compromised is Dean could possibly develop a pneumothorax.”  Doctor Johnson said with an air of authority. However, the more Doctor Johnson spoke the paler the man before him looked. His shaky grasp on the guardrail was beginning to rattle the metal.

“Mr. Rollins maybe you need to sit down?” Doctor Johnson offered in concern his brow furrowing.

Seth simply shook his head with a mumbled no but the shaking seemed to make him even more dizzy. Doctor Johnson has been in the medical profession for about eighteen years now and he knew the signs of when a man was about to pass out.

“Nurse! Get a chair over here stat!” The Doctor barked, moving into gear and grabbing the man’s muscular forearms to steady him.

“Stop it...” Seth grumbled, trying to jerk out of the man’s grasp.

“Mr. Rollins you are in no shape to be helping your partner right now. You need to sit down and maybe eat and drink something.” Doctor Johnson advised, nodding to his nurse who slid a chair behind Seth as he forcefully pushed the man into the chair.

He slid his hands down the man’s forearm to his wrist to feel for a pulse. The pulse was erratic but given the slight rise in BP the Doctor could understand it. However, if his BP didn’t go down sooner Doctor Johnson would not hesitate to get the man hooked to an IV.

Seth continued breathing deeply, his head leaning between his legs. Each strangled breath made Doctor Johnson wince.

“That’s it...take deep breaths. In through your nose out through your mouth. Nice and easy now...” Doctor Johnson coached, going as far to rub between the man’s shoulder blades.

After a few minutes Seth seemed to calm down enough that he could focus on conversation. He was sweaty, and pale and despite his grumblings Doctor Johnson did another quick reading of his pulse to satisfy himself.

“I’m sorry.” Seth said, his face beginning to turn a shade of pink. His eyes wandered to Dean who lay blissfully unaware of the scene Seth just created. Jesus...they were all falling apart here.

Seth scrubbed a shaky hand across his face, wincing at the sticky sweat lingering on his forehead. “I’m sorry you said a pnema-whata?”

Doctor Johnson frowned a little at the man’s reaction but decided to ignore it. He didn’t like how hard he was pushing himself and he felt before the week was over he was going to have another wrestler in a bed at the hospital.

“Quite alright Mr. Rollins it’s a pneumothorax where a rib punctures a lung. Essentially it would be a collapsed lung.”

Seth blanched. “You’re saying Dean might get a collapsed lung?”

“No, _worst case scenario_ , he just might but he’d have to cough pretty hard with enough strength to do that and given he’s still in the ICU and will be put on anti-cough medication for his infection I don’t see that happening. However, the infection could pose a lot of dangerous risks as I said before, it could undue a lot of the surgical repairs I’ve made causing him to have to go under the knife again. However, me and my staff will do our very best to assure that doesn’t happen, okay?”

Seth began to breathe a bit easier but was still slightly trembling. “Jesus...” Seth shakily huffed out.

Doctor Johnson smiled kindly. “Try to take care of yourself Mr. Rollins. Mr. Ambrose will need you in top shape for the next few days. To try and help for now try wetting a wash cloth down with cool water and wiping Mr. Ambrose’s face and chest it will likely make him feel a bit better. Do you have any questions for me currently?”

Seth shook his head numbly, still looking like a deer caught in the headlights. Doctor Johnson felt awful for him, but he really couldn’t do much else. “Take care Mr. Rollins page me if you need me.”

He gave a slightly, comforting pat to the younger man’s shoulder before heading out.

Seth watched until the doctor left before he was putting his head in his hands.

Rubbing his tired eyes felt good but he knew he couldn’t sleep just yet. Things were so fucked. He figured he needed to make some more calls out to tell everyone of Dean’s new condition but fuck if he even had the strength to do that.

Picking his head up again Seth rested it’s weight on his closed hands as he stared at Dean on the bed. Sweat was beading on his clammy forehead as bright splotches of pink decorated his cheeks telling the story of the fever raging within. Seth figured it wouldn’t be long before Dean was moaning in his sleep, aggravated by weird fever dreams. It would be an absolute miracle if Dean didn’t injure anything else in his fevered hallucinations. Dean and fevers was never any fun.

“It’ll be okay.” Seth whispered, smoothing down the blanket by Dean’s hand and grasping it within his own being mindful of the IV. He’s not sure exactly who the words were meant for whether Dean or himself but he decided to say them again. “ _We’ll_ be okay.” Seth promised, kissing Dean’s slack hand.

The only other question was where the fuck was Roman. Seth needed him _now_.

 

* * *

 

“ _Roman....”_

Sami’s breath stuttered in his throat. “Did you hear that?”

Roman shrugged his shoulder, focusing on the whispers.

“ _Roman....”_

The voice was like nails on a chalkboard accompanied with the manic laughter of a guy who long since lost his mind.

All of the sudden the lights dimmed in the underground room, nothing but steam and clunking pipes keeping them company. Sami seemed like he wanted to grab his shoulder but resisted as he hovered closely behind Roman’s back.

Roman’s eyes roamed the area but all he could see was black. He grit his teeth, his muscles tensing until the lights popped back on brightly making Roman jump which caused Sami to dramatically fall on his backside.

“I’m here.”

Bray Wyatt suddenly appeared in front of a fallen Sami making the ginger scramble to get up and dart causing Bray Wyatt to bust out laughing in his gleefully annoying way.

“Bray...” Roman stated with a warning, his fist tightening to the point of pain.

Bray just shrugged, his teeth gleaming in the lighting. “Oh, save it Big Dog. I don’t need to hear your lies.”

“You motherfuck-” Roman started forward ready to start swinging but Sami was pushing him back muttering “no, Roman don’t!”

“God damn it Zayn!” Roman pried at the smaller mans hands but they had a death grip on his shirt, his nails biting into his sides and causing pain.

“Charming.” Bray smiled, tilting his head. “Very cute. I heard what happened to lost boy wonder and I wanted to make sure he was okay, you know how we check up on each other right Roman?”

Roman growled low in his throat, pushing against Sami with all his might but lack of sleep, and food left him progressively weaker than normal.

“What are you doing here Bray?” Sami finally interjected asking the million-dollar question. “Can’t you go buzz off with the fireflies or something?”

Bray looked at Sami like he was nothing more than a little ant beneath his boot. “Was that someone talking...?” Bray listened intently, cupping his hand to his ear before shrugging. “Must have been the wind huh. Lot of weird things happen down here. The pipes really do sing if you’re willing to listen...a little birdie told me that something happened in Dean’s room.”

“What?” Roman’s fight drained out of him. “What the fuck are you going on about Wyatt?”

Bray just smiled innocently. “So surly you are. No wonder why the pipes don’t want to talk to ya. I already heard what I needed to hear I suggest you do the same for you. Until then.” Bray nodded before turning around and striding off.

_“He’s got the whole world in his hands....he’s got the whole world in his hands..”_

The echo from the singing carried almost making the pipes vibrate.

Sami’s grip had loosened considerably as they both just stared at the retreating form of one Bray Wyatt.

“What the fuck was that?” Sami asked confused. “Did that just happen?”

“Oh fuck...” Roman moaned, noticing the missed text and calls from Seth. “Fuck, fuck, fuck...come on Sami.” Roman shoved his phone in his pocket and pulled at Sami’s arm who looked content to just stand there and ponder what made Bray Wyatt tick. However, judging from the urgency of Seth’s texts nothing good must have occurred in the span of his departure.

Why couldn’t they catch a fucking break?

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So....something tells me that Bray won't be the last visit the boys get? Something also tells me that they aren't going to be catching a break anytime soon. I hope you all are still enjoying it!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean was always indestructible...until one day he wasn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New update for you all! I tried to keep this one pretty lighthearted but new revelations are being revealed, like I said last chapter things are only starting to get worse for our boys!

“It’s irritating my nose.” Dean whined impatiently, hand scratching at the nasal cannula lodged beneath his nostrils making his nose a bright shade of red to match the fever splotches on his cheeks.

Dean was not a happy camper ever since being awoken to an achy head, throbbing side and a worried Seth that wouldn’t seem to leave him be for any ounce of time. While the wet washcloth felt nice he didn’t need the damn thing every 5 seconds. He did his best to hide his facial expressions well, so he wouldn’t send Seth into a frenzy. The younger man already looked frazzled to hell with his wild, frizzy hair and worn band tee looking like crumpled trash. It made Dean feel awful to the point that he suggested that Seth go with Roman and get some r and r despite internally not wanting to be left alone.

He got a nasally earful of why that was a bad idea, so he stopped suggesting it awhile ago.

“I’ll page a nurse to get some Vaseline then.” Seth suggested, finger already hovering over the button which is where his body practically lived since Dean came back to the living.

“No...” Dean urged not wanting more poking and prodding from a nurse but unfortunately his jerk reaction caused him to tighten his stomach muscles which sent a stabbing pain straight through the incision and up his spine forcing him to clamp his jaw shut and moan a litany of curse words. “Motherfucker....god damn it.”

Dean clenched his eyes shut and breathed deeply through the pain, but each ragged inhale of breath was causing the same shooting pain to dance across his ribcage. “M’kay.” Dean ground out finally, letting the oxygen do most of his breathing work for him. He felt Seth’s hands hovering right above him, anxious to do _something_ but not having a clue exactly what to do. The words were mostly for Seth’s benefit anyway, he most certainly _was not okay_ at this moment in time. The fever was kicking his ass leaving him weak and moody, achy all over and hesitant to fall back asleep because he didn’t want to experience any dreams.

“Jesus Christ Dean.” Seth shuddered forcing Dean to finally unclench his eyes and stare at Seth’s haggard face which was inches from his own. His brown orbs shone wetly making Dean’s sour mood dip even further.

“ _Please_ just...no more nurses for right now, okay?” Dean pleaded, catching Seth’s hooded vision even going so far as to grab onto the man’s clammy hand and squeeze.

“But...”

“No buts.” Dean interjected shutting Seth up with a snap of his jaw. “I don’t want to be poked anymore today I already feel like shit I don’t need them stabbing me with things to make me feel even worse, okay?”

Seth nodded in agreeance but didn’t let go of his hand which was fine with Dean.

“Where the fuck is Roman anyway? You said he went for food and it’s been like thirty minutes since you said that.” Dean asked, taking his other hand and resting is slightly above his incision to monitor his rapid breathing and try to slow it down.

“Uh....” Seth’s hesitation made Dean’s eyes narrow until Roman, accompanied with Sami came barreling into the room like linebackers.

Dean’s eyes widened significantly taking in the way Roman was heaving and Sami was a second away from face planting. The sight those two were making was certainly a picture worth and if Dean didn’t feel like one breath away from collapsing with pain he’d be laughing his ass off. Instead he and Seth turned equal, confused heads their way and both uttered, “What the fuck?” “Dude you guys are creepy when you do that.”

“Zayn,” Roman growled which caused Sami to shrug innocently. Roman took a second to compose himself before walking into the room and settling down into the chair on the opposite side of the bed.

He immediately leaned over and touched Dean’s forward gently, wiping away sweat as he went. “Hey babe, how you feeling?”

“Hey,” Dean twisted his head to accept Roman’s kiss. “Fine.” Dean lied, holding his tongue at the way Seth’s hand squeezed his own tightly at his admission. “Well, okay for now.” He acquiesced.

“Something tells me not to believe you.” Roman said sternly. “Don’t know why I bothered asking you.”

“Yeah, Dean’s an awful liar.” Sami piped up cheerfully, leaning against the bottom of the bed rail.

Dean shot his friend a death glare. “Who asked you?”

“Don’t be nasty.” Seth admonished. “Doctor said Dean has an infection and could develop pneumonia from it.”

Roman blinked rapidly absorbing the information. “But he’s okay now?”

“Doctor also said that he could get a collapsed lung too because you know our boy has to be an over achiever.”

“I’m right fucking here you know?” Dean pouted, not liked being talked about like he was a child.

Both men seemed to ignore him causing Sami to begin laughing. “You are so dead when I’m mobile again.” Dean warned his friend who gleefully grabbed onto his toe under the blanket and twisted.

“Zayn,” Dean growled fixing to get up and lay a whooping on his Canadian friend.

“Shush, I’m trying to hear Seth.” Roman admonished, laying his big Samoan paw atop Dean’s head adding an extra five pounds to his pounding skull. Dean grunted but didn’t display that what Roman was doing was hurting. He held his tongue considering Seth needed to freak out together with Roman because they just loved freaking out over things together. Because it seemed like his partners were just a bunch of freaks apparently.

Sami immediately caught his frown of pain though and furrowed his brows in a question. Dean hoped he shot his best, “please don’t spill” look he could Sami’s way. He didn’t want the two even more insane over his wellbeing then they currently were.

“Worst case scenario he said but we have to make sure that Dean doesn’t cough really hard right now or he might undue surgical work and have to have surgery again.”

“Hear that Roman, _worst case scenario._ ” Dean emphasized slowly.

“Yeah I heard it doesn’t mean I can’t worry though.” Roman ruffled his hair softly before patting it back out of his face. Dean would never admit it aloud with Sami being here, but it was one of his most favorite things.

“Well, looks like I’ll be heading out. I’ll tell Daniel and Shane the news since they’ve been anxious to hear something.” Sami interrupted knowing when his time was up, and it was time to give the three some privacy. He patted Dean’s leg softly, hoping to instill some “hang in there” vibes through his touch. He knew that Dean was likely stir crazy, but he also knew that Romana and Seth had good reason to worry.

“Bye Sami, thanks again.” Seth said sincerely, standing up and giving the ginger a big hug.

Dean was next and despite him not being able to coordinate his heavy limbs very well he managed an awkward head ruffle that involved yanking on Sami’s ear harshly in payback the ginger man gave a garbled yell of pain making Seth roll his eyes and Roman coldly glare. “See you later dickwad.” Dean grinned when Sami muttered under his breath and called him an asshole while holding his red ear.

“Last time I come see your sick ass in a hospital.”

Dean rolled his eyes. “Don’t be so overdramatic you’ll see my ass any day of the week sick or not and you know it.”

“Don’t flatter yourself.” Sami said with a small smile.

It was an awkward exchange with Roman that even had Dean cringing in second hand embarrassment which was fucking hard.

Once Sami left the hospital Dean gave Roman a death glare of epic proportions. “Why are you so uptight?”

“I’m not uptight.” Roman defended, body relaxed against the chair now that their visitor was gone. His arm rested on Dean’s lap, sitting atop his thigh in a warm, comforting presence.

“Sure, you aren’t that’s why you’re such a delight when you say goodbye to people.”

“You’re lucky you’re injured.” Roman countered, gripping Dean’s thigh tightly, almost to the point of pain.

Dean gasped, a sick thrill rushing through him and hitting him straight in the groin. God damn it, how long has it been since he’s been laid? He’s not sure exactly how much time he’s been in the hospital, but it’s only been maybe five days max, _maybe_ a week but fucking one day is too many when it comes to sex in his opinion. They were on a constant roll of having celebratory sex after each 6-man on the house shows until that night...the fuckers.

“Fuck....” Dean moaned, dropping his head back against the pillows dramatically. “So, don’t need a boner right now.”

Seth gave him a pointed look. “Really, Dean?”

“What? Can’t a man be horny when his boyfriend touches him?”

“He most certainly can.” Roman said, in his honey smooth voice that sent more shockwaves to Dean’s hard on. The big palm resting across his thigh began to slowly move back and forth. “I know it’s been a shitty few days for you babe, try and relax okay?”

“See he gets me.” Dean muttered, holding in another moan that wanted to escape as Roman’s other hand joined in on rubbing his thigh muscle, getting dangerously close to his groin before moving away again. Dean closed his eyes and wiggled a little way down in the bed, grunting in exertion before settling comfortably against the pillows. “Fuck yeah...”

“Let me do all the work, okay?” Roman asked softly, his hot breath ghosting the shell of his ear giving Dean goosebumps.

Dean could hear a phone ring in the distance, but he couldn’t give a flying fuck right now.

“I’ll take it.” Seth said solemnly, almost sounding regretful. “Don’t let him hurt himself, please?”

“I ain’t fixing to hurt our boy just trying to make him feel good.” Roman promised with a wink as Seth left the curtained area and went outside of the room.

“That’s it baby relax for me.” Roman cooed, moving the blanket so that he could slot his hands underneath. Dean’s thigh was warm despite the chilly temperature in the room, his hard on was tenting the thin hospital gown that he wore and leaving precum in it’s wake. Roman grinned softly as he took in Dean’s face, his eyes half lidded in pleasure, his breathing even and slow without a trace of pain on his face.

Roman knew that before long Dean would be asleep again despite his best attempts at not trying to. The pain medication that he got on an hourly basis was kicking in, aiding in his sleepiness. Roman wasn’t sure if he could actually get Dean off safely but figured just getting him close to that edge would push him toward sleep faster.

“You feeling good babe?”

“Yeah...” The ‘yeah’ was elongated and definitely a few octaves lower than Dean’s normal voice. He was good and sated at this point, in that weird transition of sleep and bliss.

“Good...keep breathing slowly okay...nice and easy.” Roman massaged Dean’s thigh gently, taking care to lightly graze around his groin causing Dean’s fingers to flex uncontrollably at the feeling buzzing through his system.

A few more minutes of a light massage and Roman could already see Dean’s eyes close, a soft snoring sound emitting from his mouth. He kept up with the massage until he was satisfied Dean was 100 percent under, his erection would slowly go away but at least Dean was assisted into a peaceful slumber.

Roman didn’t miss the way his boy has been wincing ever so slightly or how his cheeks kept their same rosy color as the fever continued. For as much as Sami could be annoying at times he was unfortunately very right about Dean, he was a shit liar. The new revelation of Dean’s condition left Roman in a worrying state of panic. The night that Roman woke up on a _fucking chance_ only to discover Dean practically comatose and bleeding internally still rattled him. If he closed his eyes for any length of time Dean’s sick, pale pallor a Seth’s frantic shouts lit up behind his closed eyes. It was like a never-ending nightmare.

The nightmare just kept getting worse and worse the longer time went on. He wouldn’t dare let Seth or Dean see him in this state though, he had to stay strong for the both.

Roman smoothed down Dean’s blanket again so cold air wouldn’t get in and smoothed back his wild, fluffy hair that seemed to poke out everywhere. He bent over and gave Dean a soft kiss on the forehead. “Rest easy babe.”

Before getting up and walking toward the door where Seth’s voice was getting louder and more irritated.

“Stephanie that’s totally unfair.”

Roman’s anger already spiked up at hearing her name. He rested his weight against the door jam and watched as a myriad of expressions danced across Seth’s face.

“You can’t do that. We have fucking rights you know?”

“Babe?” Roman said softly, laying a hand on Seth’s shoulder. His muscles were tense and coiled, matching the reddened expression that was slowly taking over his face. His breathing quickened as his grip on the phone tightened. Roman thought it would actually crack under the pressure.

“I can’t believe you guys are fucking doing this to us. After all we fucking done for you!”

Roman stared down the few orderlies that gave Seth a disapproving stare at his cursing.

“I can curse all I fucking want too Stephanie. After _everything_ me, Roman and Dean has done and you’re going to pull shit like this?”

Seth was beginning to get more agitated to the point that Roman thought he might start punching.

“Seth give me the phone.” Roman offered firmly, not wanting Seth to take the brunt of their bullshit alone.

Seth’s eyes blazed a fire in them Roman hasn’t quite seen before. What could they be saying to him?

“Yeah, well we’ll fucking see about that when you get here.” With that Seth angrily pressed the button on his phone bringing it to his face and breathing deeply.   
“Babe talk to me what’s going on?” Roman comforted, rubbing Seth’s heaving back to try and calm him down.

“I can’t fucking believe this.” Seth spit out, shrugging out of Roman’s grip and beginning to pace angrily in the hallway; almost mirroring Dean in persona. The two security guys that the hospital gave them both sat in standard chairs across the hall. They looked almost intrigued at the scene the two were making, it made Roman uneasy. He wasn’t sure where they came from and just assumed the hospital hired them, but paranoia began to sit in thinking they were clowns from Triple H and Stephanie hired to watch them.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end and he was quickly ushering Seth inside the room and closing the door with a quiet finger to his lips, indicating that Dean was finally asleep again.

Seth nodded before breathing deeply.

Roman braced himself.

“Stephanie said she and Triple H are flying here tomorrow night because Bray fucking Wyatt told them that the Doctor said we were a nuisance to Dean and weren’t doing anything right now.”

“What the fuck?” Roman questioned, his fists tightening until he was causing himself pain.

“You’re fucking telling me.” Seth whispered angrily, dragging a shaking hand across his face. “They want to take us back with them and on tour and leave Dean here. She said sales are tanking and fans are angry that “the Shield” aren’t wrestling as advertised.”

“Like hell we are...”

“I know.” Seth soothed. “I told them as much, but it just made her angrier. Was Bray a fucking plant from Stephanie?”

“I don’t know.” Roman said honestly anger thrumming through his veins at the new revelation of events. “I’m beginning to think there’s more plants here than we originally assumed. What the fuck is their problem?”

“I’m not sure babe.” Seth said, his shoulders lightly shaking. Roman took it upon himself to bring the younger man into a tight hug, running his hand over his back softly. “It’ll be okay, we’ll handle it head on babe like we always do.”

“We _can’t_ leave Dean.” Seth mumbled, exhaustedly into Roman’s shoulder.

“We won’t.” Roman promised. “We won’t.”

Monitors in Dean’s room started going off, starling both Roman and Seth out of their embrace, equally matched expressions of panic on their face.

“Oh fuck...”

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean was always indestructible...until one day he wasn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! It's been awhile huh? So sorry this is extremely late! I've been so overwhelmed at work and shiny new prompts keep enticing me lol. I have so many saved I want to try and write for but I realized that people were messaging me about this story so I decided to orientate my priorities and this chapter came out! Craziness is starting to ensure so buckle up. Once again sorry for this being late and thanks for those that keep reading, reviewing and have asked about this. I never abandon a story, sometimes I just take exceptionally long to finish some things but alas this will be a fully finished story!

“Breathe Seth!” Roman barked harshly the sound of his yell echoing off the stark, white walls.

Seth was close to a full-on meltdown. His body leaning more and more heavily on the wall until he eventually just started sliding down it; if it wasn’t for Roman’s quick reflexes and strong hands of course. He was anchoring the both of them at the moment as Seth hyperventilated as they were both shoved roughly out of the room as Doctor Johnson came skidding in.

Either it was the sound of his voice, or his hands gripping Seth’s biceps tightly that snapped him out of his weird breathing pattern.

_Finally,_ Seth was sucking in huge lungfuls of air like it was going to be taken away at any minute.

“That’s it,” Roman coached softly rubbing his hand up and down Seth’s trembling back. “Just breathe baby, Dean will be fine I know it.” Roman was lying through his teeth as his own heart beat painfully at thinking of their boy lying helpless in the hospital, fighting for his life due to unfortunate circumstances.

“I can’t take this much more.” Seth finally breathed out shakily, sweat beading on his brow as an unsteady hand went to wipe it away.

“Seth,” Roman sighed mouth agape to say more, not liking the despondent and depressed look upon his face, however he was interrupted by the Doctor finally stepping out of the door, closing it softly.

His face was set in a grim line making Roman’s heart sink to his feet and his grip on Seth’s arm to tighten to the point of pain.

Seth paid him no mind however, his muscles froze, his back getting tenser under Roman’s palm.

“Gentlemen, I wish I was seeing you under better circumstances.”

“Just fucking spit, it out.” Roman yelled, tears beginning to leak into his vision. His world seemed to be down spiraling as the seconds wore on. Just the mere _thought_ of surviving without Dean was eating away at his stomach painfully.

“Roman,” Seth shushed him quietly, clearing his throat to break the uneasy tension in the room.

Doctor Johnson didn’t seem phased with Roman’s aggressive behavior however. He just straightened the wrinkles in his coat and paused to take a breath before continuing.

“Dean’s illness has continued to progress. The monitor going off was his oxygen levels dipping. He’s having trouble taking in enough air even with the oxygen cannula. I’m prescribing a stronger does of antibiotics to counter react the infection. I listened to his lungs and they weren’t sounding very good. I don’t want to have to intubate him given everything his body has been through recently. I feel like it may tax his system unnecessarily. The best we can do is up his oxygen count and possibly have him try to expel the fluid and phlegm by coughing. It’s going to be excruciatingly painful for him and it may pose a risk of reinjuring himself but hopefully with some cough medicine we can clear up the fluid collecting in his lungs and prevent further surgeries for him and a possible intubation.”

The Doctor paused and waited for his patients loved ones to react.

Both men seemed like a weak wind could blow them over.

Roman grit his teeth, blinking misty eyes as he supported more of Seth’s weight upon his own. “What does this eventually mean?”

“Well....”

“Please...” Seth interrupted, all four eyes focusing on him. Roman gave him a slight squeeze of the shoulder trying to provide him with some modicum of support even though Seth’s legs felt like jelly and he was mentally checked out. The exhaustion from all the drama, worry and anguish at seeing Dean injured or ill was finally taking its toll on Seth. He was already beginning to lose it a bit in Dean’s room when the unfortunate news of Dean’s illness was addressed. Now, with the new news that Dean was getting sicker and wasn’t doing well Seth felt like collapsing.

“Please,” Seth continued again wetting his lips, “Please tell me he’s going to be alright.”

“I can’t,”

Seth stopped the man before he could continue. “ _Please_ , don’t bullshit me! Tell me he’s going to be fine! _Please!_ ”

“Seth,” Roman frowned, his heart breaking in two at seeing his other lovers’ reaction. However, it was as if Seth wasn’t even hearing him at all. Seth unwound himself from Roman’s arms and launched himself at the doctor, hangs gripping his white coat tightly, face pale and eyes a bit crazed begging the doctor to assure him Dean was going to be okay.

“Seth!” Roman said gently with surprise, grabbing onto his shoulders to pry the younger man off with a grimace.

“Young man you don’t look alright?”

That was all the warning Roman got as Seth’s eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed in his arms. Alarm ringing and the Doctor barking orders as he felt for a pulse left Roman horrified beyond belief.

His arms were shaking as hands tried to pry Seth away from his arms.

Roman didn’t even realize he was driven to a blind rage, snapping and yelling at officials demanding they let him be, so he can take care of his boys until he felt a sting in his neck.

He thought he could hear the Doctor say, “sorry Mr. Reigns.” Before his vision was blacking out and his arms and legs became numb. He was sliding to the floor right next to Seth...lights out.

 

* * *

 

Cracking open crusty eyes Dean gutturally groaned, his throat on fire and his chest aching something fierce.

“Mth fker” Dean gasped out, a harsh cough ripping through his chest and escaping from his throat sending sparks of intense pain down his side.

Dean clinched his eyes and attempted to breathe through the pain, but more coughs just kept coming and coming.

A hand settled across his brow, cold and foreign. Dean grimaced twisting his face away in annoyance.

“Settle Ambrose!”

The voice was most certainly _not_ Seth or Roman’s. In fact, if he thought hard enough and tried to focus past the pain he could have sworn.... “H...?” Dean eventually wheezed out past cracked lips.

His vision was still hazy as he attempted to focus on the figure standing above him. His breaths came in harsh, wet gasps as he tried to let the oxygen do the work for him. However, the pain coupled with his disorientation was making it difficult for his heart rate to settle.

His monitor went off like crazy, beeping harshly in his ear forcing the figure above him to curse angrily and bark out orders.

The voices all seemed like blobs until one of the nurses, as Dean could tell from her gentle touch alone, reset the monitor and obviously turned up the oxygen on his tank.

A fresh blast of hot air shot up his noise filling his aching lungs until he felt like he was actually _breathing_ again. Dean sighed in relief, brain starting to defog and his vision beginning to get clearer. The voices became sharper until he could make out the words.

“What the fuck...” Dean wheezed out, arm locked around his injured side, brows drawn in confusion as none other than Triple fucking H and Stephanie fucking McMahon stood before him.

“Not exactly the welcome we were expecting.” Stephanie said as she picked invisible lint from her dress, obviously not giving two shits about anything Dean was saying.

“Am I dreaming?” Dean finally asked, confusion still resting heavy on his face. The added oxygen was possibly laughing gas or something right? Dean was high as a fucking kite and dreaming up some weird shit.

However, as his side pulsed painfully causing Dean to grit his teeth and spit out a harsh ‘fuck’ he was reminded that if he indeed was high as a kite his pain wouldn’t be this intense.

“Very funny Ambrose. Actually, we came to check in on you.”

“Where’s Roman and Seth?” Dean asked, suspiciousness dripping from his words. His eyes swung between the two figures, but he couldn’t get an accurate read on their expressions. Whether that was from pain or all the drugs in his system, or a combination of both Dean wasn’t sure. But Dean knew that he wasn’t high up on their radar to warrant a face to face visit. “What the hell’s going on?”

“Jesus Ambrose would you just settle alright? Nothing’s going on. We wanted to check on you and make sure you were okay; can’t we do that for one of our favorite employees?” Stephanie pushed past Triple H and her insincere voice dripped with sarcasm as her red manicured nails lightly scratched at Dean’s hand. It was a gesture meant to be motherly, but it just served to piss Dean off.

“No, I won’t fucking settle until you tell me where Seth and Roman are?”

“Here in the hospital. From what I could gather they both got admitted today. Me and Stephanie are going to have them shipped back to the Connecticut hospital with our doctors, so we can better treat them. We need them both healthy for the tour, you understand right? It’s best for business.” Triple H smiled, attempting to be sincere but all Dean could see was a haze of red. Worry, guilt, anger, and most of all fucking _fury_ clouded his mind until he couldn’t see a damn thing.

“Fuck that!” Dean spat, hands angrily going toward the tube in his nose to yank it out. However, Triple H’s hand caught his own yanking it down and holding it in place.

“Fucking let go of me, damn it! Where’s Seth and Roman!” Dean tried to shake the man loose, but he was weak from the pain, not eating or exercising much as well as his illness so the fight was futile.

“Calm down Ambrose. We’re going to take good care of them I promise. So just chill okay?”

Dean wasn’t hearing anything the man was saying. He was beyond agitated, upset, and angry at the thought of them purposefully taking away his boys from him. Or the thought of either of his boys being in some sort of danger.

Dean eventually wrangled one of Triple H’s hands closer to his mouth so that he could bite down.

Triple H yelled in pain, yanking his hand free which allowed Dean to rip out the IV on his hand, sending blood flying. The pain didn’t even register as Dean went to reach for the oxygen to yank it off before he heard a shriek and a few orderlies were entering the room.

“Mr. Ambrose what are you doing? You’re hurting yourself!”

“Fuck you,” Dean ground out, pushing the women out of the way, managing to get a good punch to one of the make orderlies that attempted to grab his face.

“Mr. Ambrose!”

Dean snapped at hands closing near his face before a warmth spread throughout his body. The pain of his side flaring back up again as his adrenaline wore off.

Dean stared accusingly at the nurses who looked horrified as one attempted to bandage the wound he inflicted on his own hand and another one was fussing over the bite wound he gave to Triple H. Stephanie black eyes were starring daggers at his face, a smirk lighting up her features.

“Fuuuccckkkkk....” Dean slurred out, heart thudding heavily in his chest as his vision began to white out at the edges.

“We’ll take good care of them Dean. I promise you.” Stephanie said sweetly in his ear, making Dean wonder how she got that close to him so fast.

He didn’t have long to ponder on it however as the lights began fading in his room until eventually everything was dark.

Stephanie pulled back from Dean’s head with a grimace. She straightened the grimace into a sweet smile however noticing the nurses giving both of them a concerned look.

“Goodness me, are you guys alright?” One of the older nurses came up to them both, fussing over Hunter’s hand her older eyes set into a frown of concern. “Usually Mr. Ambrose is so nice and well behaved. I’m not sure what got into him.”

“We’re fine. Dean can get a little bit _wild_ when he doesn’t have the proper handling. Me and my husband will be signing out Mr. Rollins and Mr. Reigns to take them home. Our facilities at WWE have an outstanding medical staff that knows how to cater to their specific needs.” Stephanie replied softly. “We were _terribly_ concerned about all three of them. They are our best employees and some of our closest friends, so we absolutely hate to see anyone of our workers in any ounce of pain, you understand.”

“Oh heavens, I completely understand. I bet these boys become like your own, huh? I know the nurses on this floor have been smitten with the three since Mr. Ambrose was admitted. Will you be transferring him as well? Did you talk to his Doctor on call about any of this? Doctor Johnson is overseeing both Mr. Rollins and Mr. Reigns care right now as well.”

“Don’t worry ma’am,” Triple H interjected, white bandage on his hand gleaming in the light. “We’ll go through the proper channels we just want to take care of our _boys_.”

Stephanie plastered on a fake smile, her face perfectly molding to one of concern seeing as how the older nurse ate it up. “Now if you’ll excuse us we’re going to go check on Seth and Roman and see if they can be checked out and be prepared for transport. Thanks so much for all you do. We will allow Dean to stay and rest here since he’s not ready to be transported anywhere yet.”

“I understand dear. We’ll take great care of Mr. Ambrose. I’ll let you two go on your way.”

Stephanie nodded at the woman allowing them to shake hands before brushing past another nurse hovering at the door and walking briskly down the hallway, heels clacking loudly as she went.

“Let’s get Reigns and Rollins and get the hell out of here. We got shows to catch.”

Nurse Felicia watched as the two figures went, watching in dismay as the orderly Jimmy, who got popped by an errant punch was holding a bag of ice to his eye as the security guards from downstairs were interviewing him about pressing charges.

Nurse Felicia sighed in anxiety feeling like something else was going on and she didn’t like it one bit. She paged Doctor Johnson hoping she can contact him before those other two did.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean was always indestructible...until one day he wasn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yes this is late. Not too much happens with the boys interacting considering the last chapter had them all KO'd essentially but this chapter will definitely make you hate Steph and HHH who will be our big baddies of the story. Once again I have zero medical knowledge so I basically have winged it to make it make sense for the story. Hope this was worth the wait.

Nurse Felicia sighed as she prepared Seth and Roman for transport. Seth needed intravenous fluids due to malnutrition and dehydration not to mention straight up exhaustion. Roman wasn’t faring much better so Doctor Johnson prescribed him a cocktail as well.

Speaking of Doctor Johnson, Nurse Felicia spied the Doctor in the corner of the room talking to the two individuals with a frown on his face. His arms were tied, figuratively speaking, the two flashed fancy papers and words with special phone calls that basically took Seth and Roman out of their hands. The only thing that prevented them from taking Ambrose was the fact that he was too ill to even attempt to transport. Both Seth and Roman, despite their beaten moral and immune system were relatively unscathed. The sedative that they gave Roman would wear off in about two hour’s time and Seth was kept under further with the help of a sedative.

Little did Nurse Felicia know when she gave it to him, it would be a good thing. They figured Seth needed some rest so keeping him under would do the trick but here they were about to board a private medical flight back to Connecticut.

She smoothed the tape across Seth’s hand with a gentle touch and a wane smile as she stepped back as other orderlies prepped them for further transport. She watched as they clinically fixed tubes and wires before unlocking the wheels of the gurneys and began pushing them out the door.

Walking up to where Doctor Johnson stood amicably talking with the two strangers, Nurse Felicia gave them an insincere smile, “both guys are ready to go. We have our orderlies taking them down to the transport bay as we speak.”

“Excellent,” The girl almost purred with exceptionally white teeth. She sounded so fake it almost made her want to gag.

“Well, Doctor Johnson we want to thank you sincerely for taking care of Seth and Roman for us. We’ve been worried sick about them and just want the best possible care they could receive you understand right?”

“Yes, of course. Sorry I can’t release Mr. Ambrose to you guys. Not until he’s medically cleared to leave that is.”

The ‘sorry’ was dripping with such falseness on Doctor Johnson’s part it almost made the nurse cringe at how fake the conversation sounded.

“No worries. We’ll be back for Ambrose soon enough. Thanks again Doctor, we’ll be checking in on Ambrose from time to time.”

“No problem,” The Doctor said to their retreating forms as heels clacked loudly against the tile with the male barking orders on a cell phone as soon as they were around a corner.

Nurse Felicia turned to Doctor Johnson and gave him the ‘look’ as she would call it. Call it a woman thing if you would but the Nurse got very good at reading her patients and she knew immediately what their patient would be feeling very soon. “Dean’s going to be pissed.”

The Doctor nodded his agreeance. “I don’t think he’s going to be the only guy pissed once everyone awakens from the sedative.”

* * *

 

Stephanie stroked Roman’s bare arm in a weird form of motherly concern, her gleaming red nail lightly scratching the black tribal tattoo.

Her eyes wandered to her husbands where he barked a harsh goodbye before clicking his phone off.

“Good news?”

Triple H smiled, holding onto his chair as the plane came across some turbulence in the air. The gurneys and medical equipment rattled in kind but both men laying on them were basically dead to the world. The sedatives given to them were guaranteed to last for the plane ride and more so with their own medical employees pumping more into their IV’s to keep them truly under for more than just the plane ride.

“Great news. The doctor said that after about a day or so both Seth and Roman will be cleared to compete again, and we can have them doing house shows and live RAW’s here in no time.”

Stephanie’s smiled brightened as she focused her attention from Roman to Seth. Seth’s face appeared pale and gaunt, black smudges under his eyes. She was used to seeing him in top, physical conditioning but the man on the gurney felt small and weak. Stephanie tsked slightly in a mocking gesture. Seth’s new-found freedom and independence from authority, ‘righting wrongs’ and making amends has done nothing but earn him pain and misery from her perspective.  

Roman, and especially Dean have always been more trouble than they were worth. Both she and Hunter knew that from the beginning. They could have foreseen this from a mile away. “Seth looks a little worse for wear don’t you think?”

Triple H glanced down between them and did a once over. “Yeah, pretty pathetic honestly. I’ll make sure his ass gets in a gym within a week. That will get him back in ring shape. He kind of let himself go.”

Even though Stephanie concurred with her husband, as always, there was just a teensy part of her heart that found the statement to be harsh. At one-point Seth was like a son to her, she developed a very motherly bond with him and that was hard to shake.

However, once her husband showed her their projected earnings once two thirds of the Shield came back to action that thought died a quick death.

“What are we going to do with these two once they wake up? They won’t be very happy with what happened.” Stephanie thought briefly inspecting her nails for flaws.

Triple H grinned maliciously. “I have a few ideas. I’ve been discussing with our doctors a few things that might make the transition easier. They’ve been suggesting different products of the memory variety.”

“Oh,” Stephanie said intrigued. “Like amnesia?”

“Kind of, more like forget for awhile what time it is and convince them that Dean is still on Smackdown.”

Stephanie stared at her husband, smile wide on her face. The plan was deliciously brilliant yet so evil at the same time. She wasn’t afraid to do bad things to get what she wanted and her husbands no nonsense best for business attitude greatly complimented her own work ethic.

She stared down at the two men on the gurneys, watching as their bodies shook and jiggled with the plane ride. Both were strapped down tight, covered in blankets and connected to monitors that were checked periodically by their own hired medical team.

Stephanie appreciated how little of the medical team she is encountering and how seamlessly they just mold into the background. Stephanie liked her workers to be more in the shadows than right in her face.

“What about Ambrose?” She asked, curious on what they would do with Dean who was a few states away. They wanted to take him too but were met with very strict orders that Dean was too injured and too ill for a plane ride.

If they really wanted to, she and Hunter could easily break hospital protocol, but they didn’t want the hassle. Dean was already being a pain in the ass when they were there so leaving him behind a few states away seemed like a safe bet for now.

“We’ll be kept up to speed on his recovery process but apparently from what I could get from the doctor Dean is _really_ sick. He’s been having complications since he had surgery, so they are worried about him. I don’t think he would have fared very well on a plane ride besides the little asshole deserves to suffer a little bit due to his scene at the hospital.” Triple H said vehemently flexing his bandaged hand where the bite wound was covered. “Who knows whether the kid has rabies or any other diseases.”

Stephanie wrinkled her nose in sympathy. They would definitely need to get her husband checked out properly. “Yeah, but as soon as he’s better we need his ass back wrestling.”

Triple H nodded in agreement. They both shared a mutual hatred for Dean but one thing they couldn’t deny was the boy could wrestle and at the end of the day he made them a lot of money and money was what mattered most.

* * *

 

_“Mr. Ambrose? Can you hear me?”_

A light shone brightly in his eye making him flinch with a low moan. His muscles began awakening slowly as fire lanced through his side making bile rush to the back of his throat.

The light was quickly removed as the voices grew louder and louder.

_“BP’s rising. He seems to be awake but not aware of his surroundings yet. Fever is at 102 currently.”_

_“Damn it. We need to get him cooled down stat. How is his breathing?”_

A cold sensation crept across his sternum to his chest, but Dean could do nothing but breathe raggedly despite the intrusion. It took all his will power just to make his lungs function into some semblance of breathing. The images above him were foggy clouds in his eyes and no amount of blinking would clear the vision.

“F’ck.” Dean breathed as fingers probed gently near his incision sight, peeling back tape with a loud sigh.

_“Infection?”_

One voice asked sadly, voice full of so much concern and pity it almost made Dean worry. Sweat was breaking out at his temple as his breathing grew erratic.

_“Clean the wound again. Increase the dosage of antibiotics and prepare the patient for possible intubation.”_

Intu-what? Dean though to himself in confusion. The voices left him as the sounds of shoes squeaked against the tile loudly, signifying that people were busying about.

The slow, sick throbbing of his side was slowly lulling him back to unconsciousness as the foggy blobs before him began dimming.

One thought persisted in his mind though. “S’th? R’mn?” He slurred hoping to get some sort of response to reassure him but the only one he received was a feminine one.

_“I’m sorry sweetie just relax okay.”_

A decidedly petite hand ran through his sweaty curls which did nothing but make him even more sick to his stomach as his neck tightened and he was turning his head as far sideways as he could get it and spewing the contents of his stomach.

The utter revulsion and increasing pain was sending Dean’s brain through a tailspin. He couldn’t make out any sounds over the loud ringing in his ears.

Little did he know currently the loud ringing was just monitors going off as his body began to seize on the bed and the hospital staff shouted and yelled orders to try and stabilize him the best they could.

“Come on kid don’t do this to us.” Doctor Johnson barked as his hands tried their best to stop Dean from thrashing any further and re-injuring himself. Nurse Felicia was on the other side and the doctor could see tears misting in her eyes watching their patients body jerk and move, a low keening sound coming from deep inside.

“Prep for an ice bath!” Doctor Johnson yelled, hand cradling Dean’s wrist for a constant pulse as the jerking slowed to small spasms until he lay completely still, eyes shut and breathing off.

“Damn it.” Doctor Johnson sighed, wiping a hand roughly across his mouth. His eyes caught his nurses as she immediately read his mind.

“I’ll schedule an MRI later as well as schedule a surgery time. The wound looks infected and judging from some spotting of blood it seems that he may have ripped his sutures. We’ll definitely get an X-RAY as well to check on his lungs, his breathing is off so I’m going to go ahead and prep the intubation for surgery, anything else doctor?” Nurse Felicia mentally checked everything off in her head before pausing for further clarification.

The doctor sighed shaking his head. “That will be all nurse thank you.”

With that Nurse Felicia was off leaving just the doctor and Dean alone in the room. The doctor did a cursory glance over his patient and winced at seeing the blood widening across the bandage. He peeled it off slowly and confirmed what the nurse suspected. He had indeed torn the stitches and likely could have done further damage with the seizure.

His eyes skirted up to his patient’s face taking in the vomit smeared across his cheek and the bed with a grimace. Before they could perform any further surgery, he would need a slight bath.

Doctor Johnson paged another nurse in the room and began to get ready for the next step in their surgical exploration, slightly praying that nothing else was wrong, but immediately expecting the worst.


End file.
